Marked for Fallou Fall
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Feb 2027
The knee: Caden Glover out for 20 days
20 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. St. Louis CITY SC lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Words at St. Louis CITY SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Edelman 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.
Squad8 Feb 2027
Célio Pompeu and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
“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 dugout8 Feb 2027
Fallou Fall has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at St. Louis CITY SC 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.
The dugout8 Feb 2027
Rafael Santos 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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad11 Jan 2027
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.
Squad11 Jan 2027
Words at St. Louis CITY SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Edelman 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 dugout11 Jan 2027
Fallou Fall has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at St. Louis CITY SC 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.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
The manager makes an example of Joshua Yaro
“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.
Market11 Jan 2027
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rafael Navarro’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
The dugout11 Jan 2027
Tomáš Ostrák 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
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Pepi 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Words at St. Louis CITY SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lukas MacNaughton 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 Dec 2026
Fallou Fall has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at St. Louis CITY SC 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.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kyle Hiebert, and the manager let it.
Market14 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rafael Navarro’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
A knee injury of the worst kind for Marcel Hartel
35 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. St. Louis CITY SC lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Dante Polvara: 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.” St. Louis CITY SC have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad16 Nov 2026
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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A move Owen Adams would have made for nothing
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Owen Adams is living that version at St. Louis CITY SC, and it tends to show in the first month.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at St. Louis CITY SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Daniel Edelman 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.
Market16 Nov 2026
He is 14, and the scouting reports agree on the only line that matters: the ceiling. Signings like this are lottery tickets written by professionals.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad19 Oct 2026
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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Rafael Santos 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 dugout19 Oct 2026
When it matters, Fallou Fall plays
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.
Market19 Oct 2026
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Christian Olivares has his answer from St. Louis CITY SC; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jake Girdwood-Reich, and the manager let it.
Market19 Oct 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rafael Navarro’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Oct 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at St. Louis CITY SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad12 Oct 2026
“The easiest signature of my career.” Fallou Fall and St. Louis CITY SC agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Market12 Oct 2026
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Daniel Johnson 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.
Squad12 Oct 2026
Words at St. Louis CITY SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafael Santos 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 dugout12 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Miguel Perez, and the manager let it.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
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 Sergio Córdova has written the date down.
The dugout12 Oct 2026
“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
Crisis
Squad21 Sep 2026
Roman Bürki 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 St. Louis CITY SC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Sep 2026
0‑1 to Vancouver Whitecaps, and no complaints worth printing. The performance asked for nothing more than it got.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at St. Louis CITY SC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Rafael Santos 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” George Turner after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
Fred Emmings 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.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
There is no complaint available here and everybody involved knows it, which does not make the walk to the bench any shorter. Form is the only currency in football that cannot be borrowed against.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 13. 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 dugout21 Sep 2026
When it matters, Fallou Fall plays
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.
Market21 Sep 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Rafael Navarro’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 31. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Market24 Aug 2026
The offer from Brondby for Marcel Hartel 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
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.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
Roman Bürki 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Tomas Totland 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 dugout24 Aug 2026
“I could talk about decisions and I could talk about luck. I will not. We lost.” The manager, 0‑2, and a press conference that lasted four minutes.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Roman Bürki wants out of the spotlight
The ambition story running the other way, and the one nobody tells: a footballer asking for a smaller stage, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is very rarely reported as anything else.
The dugout24 Aug 2026
When it matters, Fallou Fall plays
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.