Xavier Valdez

Goalkeeper - Toronto FC
15 Apr 2027
Thursday
Process

Marked for Xavier Valdez

36 Edition

The Toronto FC Gazette

5 Apr 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Xavier Valdez decides it from twelve yards

2 kept out in the shoot-out, and a stadium that will still be describing them in twenty years. A goalkeeper only needs one of these to be remembered forever.

Match

The cup run ends for Toronto FC

0‑0 against Colorado Rapids, and the road stops here. Cup exits are quick deaths — no second leg, no next week, just the league from now until May.

Match

7 matches without a win for Toronto FC

The run now stands at 7, and the questions being asked around Toronto FC are no longer polite ones.

Squad

14 seasons of Jonathan Osorio

364 appearances across 14 seasons in these colours. Careers like that are not built any more, and Toronto FC know what they have.

Player ratings

Raheem Edwards was immovable

25 times he got in the way of something. Centre-halves get written about when they make mistakes and ignored when they do not, so an afternoon like this needs saying out loud: he is the reason the scoreline reads as it does.

Squad

Walker Zimmerman in a row with a teammate

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.

Match

6 unbeaten for Toronto FC

Hard to beat is not the same as winning, but 6 matches without defeat is a foundation Toronto FC did not have in the autumn.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Josh Sargent

Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Market

No place for Niklas Dorsch in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Niklas Dorsch has his answer from Toronto FC; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

Back issues
35 Edition

The Toronto FC Gazette

29 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Toronto FC's wait for a win

5 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Toronto FC has to find a result from somewhere.

Squad

Tempers go at Toronto FC

Josh Sargent 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.

Market

Toronto FC sell William Yarbrough for $120.0K

William Yarbrough has left for Inter Miami CF in a $120.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Djordje Mihailović

Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Words at Toronto FC training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Deandre Kerr 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.

Squad

Alex Bono stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Alex Bono and Toronto FC agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

34 Edition

The Nashville SC Post

22 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Match

No end in sight to Nashville SC's wait for a win

11 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Nashville SC has to find a result from somewhere.

Match

Nashville SC cannot find the net

11 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.

Squad

Words at Nashville SC training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeisson Palacios 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.

Market

Nashville SC sell Joe Willis for $140.0K

Joe Willis has left for Charlotte Football Club in a $140.0K deal. The accountants are pleased; the supporters are less certain.

Squad

Tempers go at Nashville SC

Andy Najar 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.

Player ratings

Maxwell Woledzi shuts the door

Defensive actions: 16, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

Market

The Xavier Valdez conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Atlanta United FC will make the call about Xavier Valdez this week. Nashville SC have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Elias Saad

Successful dribbles: 14. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Player ratings

Patrick Yazbek shuts the door

Defensive actions: 14, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.

In brief

32 Edition

The Nashville SC Post

8 Mar 2027
From our football correspondent Crisis

Match

The wait goes on for Nashville SC

9 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.

Match

The goals have deserted Nashville SC

9 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Nashville SC can tell you which week it ends in.

Squad

A one-man rearguard from Emi Ochoa

There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.

Market

Joe Willis 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 Nashville SC can pretend not to have heard.

Market

Nashville SC say no — this time

The offer from Atlanta United FC for Xavier Valdez 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.

Player ratings

Nobody could get near Hany Mukhtar

Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.

Squad

Tempers go at Nashville SC

Jeisson Palacios 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.

Boardroom

Graduation day at Nashville SC

5 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.

Squad

Andy Najar stays put

“The easiest signature of my career.” Andy Najar and Nashville SC agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.

In brief

30 Edition

The Nashville SC Post

22 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Tempers go at Nashville SC

Jeisson Palacios 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.

Squad

Patrick Yazbek 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.

Market

The Xavier Valdez conversation is coming

Everyone has stopped pretending: Atlanta United FC will make the call about Xavier Valdez this week. Nashville SC have a number in mind, and the number is not shy.

In brief

29 Edition

The Nashville SC Post

15 Feb 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Market

Nashville SC turn down Chicago Fire for Ahmed Qasem

The offer was not close and it was refused without much discussion. Whether the second one is refused as quickly is another matter.

Squad

Jeisson Palacios in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nashville SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Market

Atlanta United FC watching Xavier Valdez

The interest is real enough to have reached print. Nashville SC have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.

Squad

The manager makes an example of Jack Maher

“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.

Squad

Words at Nashville SC training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Muyl 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.

Market

No place for Joe Willis in the plan

“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Joe Willis has his answer from Nashville SC; what he does with it is the next window’s story.

In brief

23 Edition

The Nashville SC Post

4 Jan 2027
From our football correspondent Uneasy

Squad

Jeisson Palacios in a row with a teammate

It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Nashville SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.

Squad

Real improvement from Xavier Valdez at Nashville SC

Form comes and goes; this has not gone. Xavier Valdez is 23, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.

Squad

Words at Nashville SC training over how hard people work

Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alex Muyl 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