Marked for Thiago Dubroca
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout24 Jan 2033
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” St. Louis CITY SC may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad24 Jan 2033
Marcel Hartel and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout24 Jan 2033
The manager has not finished forgetting Tomas Totland'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 dugout24 Jan 2033
Brian Alanis gets it from the manager
“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.
Market24 Jan 2033
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Marcel Hartel signs something — a contract at St. Louis CITY SC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The terraces23 Aug 2032
Anger at St. Louis CITY SC spills outside the ground
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.
Market23 Aug 2032
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around St. Louis CITY SC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Match21 Aug 2032
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 8 matches without defeat is a foundation St. Louis CITY SC did not have in the autumn.
Boardroom23 Aug 2032
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Leonardo Sepúlveda has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Marcel Hartel 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.
Squad23 Aug 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jake Girdwood-Reich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings23 Aug 2032
Nobody on the pitch touched Fallou Fall
7.69, and no serious argument from anybody who was there. St. Louis CITY SC had eleven men on the pitch and one of them decided how it went.
Player ratings23 Aug 2032
Successful dribbles: 15. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
The dugout23 Aug 2032
Half-satisfied: Interim Coach on the draw
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market16 Aug 2032
James Sargent hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what St. Louis CITY SC can pretend not to have heard.
Market16 Aug 2032
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. FC Dallas moved on, Diego Daguerre reports back to St. Louis CITY SC, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Marcel Hartel 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.
Match14 Aug 2032
Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 7 matches without defeat is a foundation St. Louis CITY SC did not have in the autumn.
Transfer targets16 Aug 2032
St. Louis CITY SC offered $300.0K; Sporting Kansas City 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.
Match14 Aug 2032
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Jeong Sang-Bin. 1‑0 against FC Dallas, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings16 Aug 2032
Jeong Sang-Bin was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.42. 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.
Squad16 Aug 2032
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jake Girdwood-Reich was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Player ratings16 Aug 2032
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad7 Jun 2032
John Pulskamp 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.
Squad7 Jun 2032
Words at Chicago Fire training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Maren Haile-Selassie 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.
Squad7 Jun 2032
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Alejandro Rodriguez is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
Squad7 Jun 2032
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
“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.
Looking ahead7 Jun 2032
Chicago Fire take on the side everybody is chasing
Inter Miami CF arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
Market7 Jun 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Andreas Hanche-Olsen signs something — a contract at Chicago Fire or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Looking ahead7 Jun 2032
Inter Miami CF next, and one man in the Chicago Fire dressing room knows their training ground better than his own. The reception will tell him what they thought of him.
The dugout7 Jun 2032
Nkosi Tafari has been promised minutes
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 Nkosi Tafari has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad2 Feb 2032
Philip Zinckernagel 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.
Squad2 Feb 2032
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrew Gutman and Chicago Fire agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad2 Feb 2032
Words at Chicago Fire training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nkosi Tafari 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.
Squad2 Feb 2032
It will be explained as a change for the team and it may even be one. Nobody who has worn one believes that, and neither does the man who has just had it taken away.
Market2 Feb 2032
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Thiago Dubroca has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Chicago Fire.
Market2 Feb 2032
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Mbekezeli Mbokazi signs something — a contract at Chicago Fire or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Boardroom2 Feb 2032
Chicago Fire sign a deal worth $317.2K a year
Commercial news is the news nobody sings about and everything else is paid for with. The board will call it a partnership; the accountants will call it the difference between this squad and a smaller one.
The dugout2 Feb 2032
The manager makes Nkosi Tafari a promise
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Chicago Fire. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
The dugout2 Feb 2032
Michael Creek asks for a word with the manager
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
The dugout27 Oct 2031
Michael Creek: that is not what I was promised
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Chicago Fire have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Maren Haile-Selassie 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.
Squad27 Oct 2031
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Philip Zinckernagel was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout27 Oct 2031
Sam Wright gets it from the manager
“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.
Market27 Oct 2031
The name of Anton Salétros keeps appearing in other people's back pages. Chicago Fire say nothing, which says plenty.
Boardroom27 Oct 2031
The Chicago Fire production line keeps running
52 graduates out of an academy now rated 9 out of 20. Clubs this size survive on exactly that, and the town knows every name.