Marked for Luís Rasgado
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match20 Apr 2030
No end in sight to Chicago Fire's wait for a win
13 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Chicago Fire has to find a result from somewhere.
Market22 Apr 2030
The bid was some way short and Chicago Fire did not need long over it. Nobody in the game reads a first refusal as the end of anything.
Squad22 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Chicago Fire this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“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; Chicago Fire are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Marked 7.86 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, Chicago Fire had the best player on the pitch.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Luís Rasgado and Chicago Fire agree another 4 years.
Squad22 Apr 2030
Robin Lod knocks on the manager's door
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Chicago Fire, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match13 Apr 2030
12 matches without a win for Chicago Fire
The run now stands at 12, and the questions being asked around Chicago Fire are no longer polite ones.
Squad15 Apr 2030
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 8 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of him.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 30. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market15 Apr 2030
“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 The request is on a desk at Chicago Fire, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
A defender's afternoon for Sergio Oregel
Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market15 Apr 2030
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Chicago Fire is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad15 Apr 2030
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.
Player ratings15 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 22, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Squad15 Apr 2030
“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
Uneasy
Squad4 Jun 2029
Giorgos Liavas: 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.” Rio Ave have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Francisco Moura 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.
Market4 Jun 2029
Robyn Esajas is free to find somewhere else
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Rio Ave has been clear about where Robyn Esajas stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad4 Jun 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Francisco Moura trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Market4 Jun 2029
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Sidney Lima’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad4 Jun 2029
Somebody is after Ole Pohlmann’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Ole Pohlmann suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Rio Ave have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Squad28 May 2029
Francisco Moura 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.
Squad28 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Luís Rasgado and Rio Ave agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad28 May 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Francisco Petrasso, and the manager let it.