Marked for Manu Duah
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings6 Sep 2027
Successful dribbles: 30. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad6 Sep 2027
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Hirving Lozano 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.
Market6 Sep 2027
“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.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Tverskov 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.
Loan watch6 Sep 2027
“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 Diego Football Club, and 0 appearances in 6 say he has earned the hearing.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad9 Aug 2027
Hirving Lozano 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 ratings9 Aug 2027
Lewis Morgan was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.40. 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Ian Murphy 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.
Squad9 Aug 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Onni Valakari 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.
Match7 Aug 2027
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
Successful dribbles: 14. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Boardroom9 Aug 2027
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid San Diego Football Club $230.0K. Marcus Ingvartsen left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
Player ratings9 Aug 2027
An afternoon Manu Duah will want back
Marked 5.66. Nothing he attempted worked and by the hour mark he had stopped attempting much, which is the part a manager notices rather than the mistakes.
In brief
-
Player ratings
An afternoon Daniel Gnahoua will want back
-
Market
The window shut and Osvald Søe is still in the building
-
The terraces
The press have found their man in Lewis Morgan
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings19 Jul 2027
Andrés Reyes goes up and wins it — 7.40
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 7.40 for the rest of it.
Squad19 Jul 2027
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 Diego Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match17 Jul 2027
Houston Dynamo left with the points after a 3‑4 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Match17 Jul 2027
Defending was optional and nobody took up the option. 7 goals between San Diego Football Club and Houston Dynamo, and not one of the people who paid to be there will ask for the money back.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Jeppe Tverskov 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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
“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.
Squad19 Jul 2027
An error at the back is a moment; an error in goal is a goal. CJ dos Santos knows it, the crowd knew it instantly, and there was nobody behind him to make it anything else.
Loan watch19 Jul 2027
“I watch every San Diego Football Club game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Real Salt Lake runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad21 Jun 2027
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 Diego Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match19 Jun 2027
The unbeaten run reaches 7. Some of them were wins and some were escapes, but a side that refuses to lose is a side other dressing rooms talk about.
Squad21 Jun 2027
Jeppe Tverskov 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.
Squad21 Jun 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Hirving Lozano, and the manager let it.
Player ratings21 Jun 2027
Ninety minutes of Gabriel Pirani at his very best
Marked 8.65. Players have careers without a single afternoon like this in them, and he has just had one in front of everybody at San Diego Football Club.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad24 May 2027
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 Diego Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 May 2027
Jeppe Tverskov 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.
Squad24 May 2027
“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.
Player ratings24 May 2027
A performance of 8.67 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings24 May 2027
Successful dribbles: 18. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad24 May 2027
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Diego Football Club told CJ dos Santos something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
Loan watch24 May 2027
“I watch every San Diego Football Club game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Real Salt Lake runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Match22 May 2027
It needed Lewis Morgan to find the net to bring anything home at all: 1‑1 against Seattle Sounders, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
The terraces24 May 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Anders Dreyer
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match15 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Real Salt Lake may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match15 May 2027
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.
Squad17 May 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Morgan Guilavogui, and the manager let it.
Match15 May 2027
Beaten 0‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Squad17 May 2027
Manu Duah 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 Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match8 May 2027
No end in sight to Real Salt Lake's wait for a win
6 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Real Salt Lake has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad10 May 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Real Salt Lake may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Match8 May 2027
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.
Player ratings10 May 2027
Diego Luna runs at them all day
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match8 May 2027
Minnesota United FC left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad10 May 2027
Words at Real Salt Lake training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Alexandros Katranis 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.
Squad10 May 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting Stijn Spierings'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.
Loan watch10 May 2027
“I watch every Real Salt Lake game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Colorado Rapids runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Squad10 May 2027
Too much change too quickly at Real Salt Lake
5 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad12 Apr 2027
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market12 Apr 2027
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Pablo Ruiz wants continental football; whether Real Salt Lake can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad12 Apr 2027
The manager makes an example of Dominik Marczuk
“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.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad12 Apr 2027
There were 6 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Pablo Sisniega 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Hirving Lozano 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.
Squad12 Apr 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Jeppe Tverskov, and the manager let it.
Match10 Apr 2027
Vancouver Whitecaps left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market9 Nov 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Diego Football Club is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Hirving Lozano 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.
Squad9 Nov 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Jeppe Tverskov 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad2 Nov 2026
Amahl Pellegrino damages knee ligaments — 19 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 19 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.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Manu Duah: 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.” San Diego Football Club have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad2 Nov 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 San Diego Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad24 Aug 2026
Amahl Pellegrino damages knee ligaments — 99 days out
The words a physio says slowly. 99 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.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
A brace, and Hirving Lozano takes the afternoon — 8.07
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Hirving Lozano provided it, and the 8.07 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Squad24 Aug 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 San Diego Football Club this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Jeppe Tverskov 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
The manager makes an example of Manu Duah
“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.