Los Angeles Football Club asked and Chicago Fire said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
New York Red Bulls paid $410.0K and Los Angeles Football Club took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
The name of Jason Shokalook has come up in conversations Los Angeles Football Club were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental 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 Los Angeles Football Club know it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation Los Angeles Football Club are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Amin Boudri trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Sergi Palencia was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Danny Musovski was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. David Martínez wants continental football; whether Los Angeles Football Club can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Los Angeles Football Club has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“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 The request is on a desk at Toronto FC, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Toronto FC can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Toronto FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Theo Corbeanu signs something — a contract at Toronto FC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Toronto FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Toronto FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Brendan McSorley has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
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 Earl Edwards Jr. has written the date down.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Jonathan Osorio commits to Toronto FC for another 2 years.
Squad4 Dec 2028
Words at Toronto FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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. Toronto FC told Lewis Morgan something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
The manager has re-ordered his thinking and Brendan McSorley 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Los Angeles Football Club have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Sergi Palencia 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 had been thinking. Julián Fernández 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 Los Angeles Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Artem Smolyakov 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 at Toronto FC 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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Toronto FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Earl Edwards Jr. trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Luca De La Torre has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Los Angeles Football Club have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Los Angeles Football Club hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Sergi Palencia 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Denis Bouanga signs something — a contract at Los Angeles Football Club or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Agustín Anello has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Mathieu Choinière may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Los Angeles Football Club. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Atlanta United FC go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Toronto FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Theo Corbeanu, and the manager let it.
Squad13 Nov 2028
Words at Toronto FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Luca McKennie after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
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 Theo Corbeanu is on it.
Successful dribbles: 14. 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.
1‑0 settles it, and a club that spent a season earning the right to play these games has won one of them. Somebody else's season ended tonight, which is the part nobody mentions in the celebrations.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Toronto FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Toronto FC, another week without a signature from Theo Corbeanu.
Successful dribbles: 16. He went past people as if he had been told there was a prize for it, and by the end the full-back had stopped pretending to try.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Luca McKennie could afford to be generous.
Nobody at Toronto FC 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.
Danny Musovski 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 Julián Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The tie is over and the right side of it is theirs. 1‑0 on the night, a dressing room that will not come down for a day and a half, and a next round nobody has thought about yet.
There is no crueller way to lose a football match. Toronto FC scored in the 116th minute, the restart barely happened, and the away end was still standing when the whistle went.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Toronto FC can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Toronto FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Toronto FC can pretend not to have heard.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Theo Corbeanu is on it.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Theo Corbeanu trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Luka Gavran has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Toronto FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A goalkeeper’s error has no defender behind it to tidy it away. He knew before the ball crossed the line, the crowd knew a second later, and there is nothing anybody can say tonight.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Richie Laryea will call it something else in private.
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.
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.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
He won it back and then made something of it, which is two jobs and the reason the scoreline looks the way it does. 10 combined actions and a mark of 6.73, and not one of them will make a highlights package.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 1‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
Artem Smolyakov 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 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 Inter Miami CF.
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 Noel Buck is on 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Noel Buck trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Los Angeles Football Club will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Danny Musovski 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 watch every Los Angeles Football Club game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at ADO Den Haag runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Los Angeles Football Club know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jason Shokalook trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Los Angeles Football Club would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
“I did not come here to warm up in front of people.” He is out of contract eventually, he is old enough to count the weeks, and Los Angeles Football Club will have to give him a reason to stay or an exit.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at Toronto FC will say this on the record and the team sheets have been saying it for weeks. There is a small group in every squad who get picked when the fixture is difficult, and he has joined it.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Toronto FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The language has come, the shrug has gone, and he argues in training like a man who expects to be here next year. None of it shows up on a fee and all of it shows up on the pitch.
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Luca De La Torre has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
4 games without scoring. Strikers stop looking up, midfielders take the extra touch, and every shot that clears the bar is followed by a groan that has been building since the last goal.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Theo Corbeanu, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Sep 2028
Words at Toronto FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Toronto FC, another week without a signature from Theo Corbeanu.
Henry Wingo 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 would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout4 Sep 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Richie Laryea
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Toronto FC can pretend not to have heard.
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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Toronto FC are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Nelson Palacio, and the manager let it.
The dugout21 Aug 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Artem Smolyakov'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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nashville SC have kept their man, and Toronto FC go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Beaten 0‑1, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad14 Aug 2028
Words at Toronto FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 dugout14 Aug 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 0‑1 Luca McKennie left the room before anybody could ask which.
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.
$2.2M on the table at Vancouver Whitecaps. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The deal with FC Cincinnati is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
Colorado Rapids pay $530.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
A 2‑1 win over Charlotte Football Club, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
The words a physio says slowly. 18 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 Los Angeles Football Club 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 Los Angeles Football Club can pretend not to have heard.
$2.1M was the most the club would pay and LA Galaxy were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $2.2M — a club that wants Juan José Mina enough to be asked twice.
20 matches without a win, and then this, against Portland Timbers. Relief is a strange noise in a football ground and it was the only noise at the end.
43 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Los Angeles Football Club lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Los Angeles Football Club will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
The offer from Epicentr for Artem Smolyakov 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.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
At 33 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.87 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Angeles Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 23-year-old it feels ownership of. Amin Boudri has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
The words a physio says slowly. 57 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 Los Angeles Football Club will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Position 15 and 5 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at Los Angeles Football Club hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Julián Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
17 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 words a physio says slowly. 72 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Angeles Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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.
Minute 91, against Austin FC, 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.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 2‑2, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
The words a physio says slowly. 80 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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Los Angeles Football Club have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Danny Musovski 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 Julián Fernández was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout22 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Cameron Yedlin was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Los Angeles Football Club dressing room was either.
The dugout22 May 2028
Somebody else is better right now than Ryan Raposo
The team sheet says it in public every week until it changes. The only version of being dropped a footballer cannot argue with, and the one he takes hardest.
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.
94 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Los Angeles Football Club lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Los Angeles Football Club have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then San Jose Earthquakes scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
The words a physio says slowly. 104 days is what the club will announce and everybody who has heard this diagnosis before knows the number is the least of it: the knee comes back before the player does.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Angeles Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club know it.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Julián Fernández 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 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.
10 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Angeles Football Club has to find a result from somewhere.
27 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Los Angeles Football Club lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Toronto FC go through and Los Angeles Football Club go home, 0‑2 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 33 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
The offer from Sporting Kansas City for Eddie Segura 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.
Agustín Anello 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.
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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Los Angeles Football Club will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Angeles Football Club has to find a result from somewhere.
The offer from New York Red Bulls for Timothy Tillman 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.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, and a scan that said otherwise. He goes back to Chicago Fire; Los Angeles Football Club go back to the market; and both will insist there is no story here.
Los Angeles Football Club have gone to Vancouver Whitecaps with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Day 41 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. Los Angeles Football Club will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Los Angeles Football Club have paid $4.4M for Trey Muse, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Angeles Football Club can pretend not to have heard.
Los Angeles Football Club have gone to San Jose Earthquakes with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Los Angeles Football Club offered $510.0K; Atlanta United FC said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Danny Musovski and a teammate said things this week that will take longer than a week to unsay. It was not about football, and both of them play on Saturday.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and Los Angeles Football Club know it.
Los Angeles Football Club have made the call to Minnesota United FC. No fee, a share of the wages, and a spare shirt in the position where the squad has been thinnest all season.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Los Angeles Football Club know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
The deal with Portland Timbers is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $611.9K — a club that wants Ahmed Longmire enough to be asked twice.
The offer went to Atlanta United FC this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Jason Shokalook and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ryan Porteous trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Angeles Football Club 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 Los Angeles Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Los Angeles Football Club are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Day 13 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Ryan Porteous 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 Amin Boudri signs something — a contract at Los Angeles Football Club or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Cameron Yedlin recited it perfectly.
The bill for the sacking has arrived. Matt Howard leaves with $52.1K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
“We are a long way apart, and pretending otherwise helps nobody.” Neither side is close, and the calendar is not on the club's side.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
Denis Bouanga is playing like a man with something to prove
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Denis Bouanga is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
The dugout7 Feb 2028
The manager has not finished forgetting Armindo Sieb'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.
Nothing is announced when this happens and everybody knows. He is a bigger part of the plan at Los Angeles Football Club than he was a month ago, and the training ground worked that out before the team sheet said so.
Sergi Palencia 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 had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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 Los Angeles Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Los Angeles Football Club know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Los Angeles Football Club can pretend not to have heard.
Sergi Palencia 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Los Angeles Football Club can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Los Angeles Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
Artem Smolyakov 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 had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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 Los Angeles Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Agustín Anello 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.
Squad3 Jan 2028
David Martínez is the division's best young player this month
At 21 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Los Angeles Football Club will try very hard not to make too much 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 Los Angeles Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club know 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.
Danny Musovski 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.
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.
Sergi Palencia 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.
“Some mornings you wake up and you are still a long way from everything you know.” It is not the football and it never was; Los Angeles Football Club are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Kevin Piedrahita is 36 and has run out of things to prove. What he has left is where to stand, when to slow it down and what to say at half-time, and none of that is on a fitness chart.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Los Angeles Football Club know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Position 15 and 23 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I did not sign to watch. Nobody does.” The oldest complaint in the game, and Los Angeles Football Club will have to answer it with minutes or with a move.
In brief
The dugoutMatt McKennie knocks on the manager's door
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.
Danny Musovski 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 Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A new manager did not pick last season’s side and does not care what it looked like. Denis Bouanga has taken that personally, in the best sense, and Los Angeles Football Club are seeing a version of him the last regime had stopped seeing.
38 days since the seat came open, a list of names doing the rounds, and nobody has signed anything. Every week this drags on the shortlist gets shorter.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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. Los Angeles Football Club told Yevhen Cheberko something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Jason Shokalook trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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.
Hugo Lloris 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Los Angeles Football Club can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Something was said to Danny Musovski and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Los Angeles Football Club, and both men came out saying it was fine.
5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Los Angeles Football Club has to find a result from somewhere.
Hugo Lloris 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 Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Agustín Anello and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
The dugout18 Oct 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” George Reyna was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Los Angeles Football Club dressing room was either.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Los Angeles Football Club know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.39 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Danny Musovski was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
6 goals. Both benches spent the second half looking at each other rather than at the pitch. Purists will complain about Los Angeles Football Club and Sporting Kansas City in equal measure; everybody else had a wonderful time.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Artem Smolyakov was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Marked 8.22. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at Los Angeles Football Club.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Eddie Segura will call it something else in private.
Danny Musovski 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 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov is at the centre of it, and the squad will now find out whether the standard rises or the pair of them simply stop speaking.
“I did not go to Lugo to sit and watch. I want to come back to Los Angeles Football Club and fight for my place.” 2 appearances in 9 matches say the rest.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Los Angeles Football Club pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
It needed Amin Boudri to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Austin FC, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tyler Reyna was not hiding it after 1‑1, and nobody in the Los Angeles Football Club dressing room was either.
Position 15 and 20 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
What was said behind closed doors has now been said in front of a microphone. Everybody at Los Angeles Football Club can do the arithmetic, including the man it is aimed at.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Los Angeles Football Club heard it as anything else.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Denis Bouanga and Los Angeles Football Club agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Los Angeles Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Artem Smolyakov 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 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.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
Hugo Lloris 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 tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at Los Angeles Football Club can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 1‑0, Tyler Reyna could afford to be generous.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
The accountants will call it good business and they will be right, which is not the point anybody outside the boardroom is making. Jacob Shaffelburg was one of the reasons people came, and $6.6M does not replace that by itself.
Danny Musovski 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.
$270.0K was the most the club would pay and CF Montreal were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
St. Louis CITY SC pay $320.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Position 15 and 13 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. David Martínez had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Los Angeles Football Club have gone to Philadelphia Union with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
Los Angeles Football Club asked and Seattle Sounders said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$1.5M was the most the club would pay and Real Salt Lake were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Los Angeles Football Club have gone to St. Louis CITY SC with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“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 Los Angeles Football Club, and it is not being withdrawn.
Sergi Palencia 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 appearances and 2 goals away from here, and a player the manager did not have in August. Loans are sent out hoping for exactly this and most of them do not deliver it.
The oldest argument in any dressing room and the only one that is genuinely about football: one man thinks another is not putting enough in. It is also the row a manager privately does not mind having happened.
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Artem Smolyakov is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Baton Zabërgja was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Rafael Profini and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
It is never announced and it is entirely visible: the biggest afternoons of the season keep containing him. A press box works this out long before anybody at the club confirms a word of it.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
He looks like a man who lives here now rather than one who is working here. It took most of a season, and at Metalist the difference is visible from the back of the stand.