Marked for D.J. Taylor
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market5 Jul 2027
“I have given everything here and I need a new challenge.” The request is formal, and the relationship will never be quite the same again.
The dugout5 Jul 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.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Lucas Sanabria 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.
Match3 Jul 2027
Seattle Sounders left with the points after a 1‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Justen Glad and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Loan watch5 Jul 2027
“I did not go to Orlando City to sit and watch. I want to come back to LA Galaxy and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 17 matches say the rest.
Player ratings5 Jul 2027
Successful dribbles: 19. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Defences have started doubling up on João Klauss
9 goals and a season average of 7.33 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
The dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager makes an example of Justen Glad
“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.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market12 Apr 2027
“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 The request is on a desk at LA Galaxy, and it is not being withdrawn.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
D.J. Taylor: 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.” LA Galaxy have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad12 Apr 2027
A muscle injury and 15 days out for Sergi Roberto
The most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. LA Galaxy will quote 15 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
Squad12 Apr 2027
Joseph Paintsil 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
Words at LA Galaxy training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Lucas Sanabria 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
João Klauss reaches 200 appearances
200 games in the shirt. Nobody sets out to build a record like that; it happens to a certain kind of player at a certain kind of club, and this town knows what it has.
The dugout12 Apr 2027
Pablo Ruiz 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.
Boardroom12 Apr 2027
Nobody left the LA Galaxy dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Squad4 Jan 2027
João Klauss 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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
A row about effort at LA Galaxy
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Justen Glad was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The formation has left Justen Glad behind
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. LA Galaxy will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Too much change too quickly at LA Galaxy
6 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.
Market4 Jan 2027
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at LA Galaxy, another week without a signature from D.J. Taylor.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Maya Yoshida 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 Maya Yoshida has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout4 Jan 2027
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minnesota United FC may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Bongokuhle Hlongwane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Tommy Thompson 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 dugout4 Jan 2027
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maurice Malone, and the manager let it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
The demotion a club never announces and a dressing room always notices. Devin Padelford is further from the side than he was, and the reason will not be given until he asks.
Market4 Jan 2027
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Minnesota United FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Carlos Harvey 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 Minnesota United FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
The dugout4 Jan 2027
Peter Stroud has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Minnesota United FC 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout14 Dec 2026
“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.
Market14 Dec 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Minnesota United FC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Drake Callender 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.
Squad14 Dec 2026
Tommy Thompson 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 dugout14 Dec 2026
Mauricio González has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Minnesota United FC 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.
Market14 Dec 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minnesota United FC, another week without a signature from Peter Stroud.
The dugout14 Dec 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 Jefferson Díaz has written the date down.
The dugout14 Dec 2026
Kyle Duncan knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Kyle Duncan trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market7 Dec 2026
Only the photograph left for Peter Stroud
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Peter Stroud will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minnesota United FC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Bongokuhle Hlongwane and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad7 Dec 2026
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Morris Duggan and Minnesota United FC agree another 4 years.
Squad7 Dec 2026
Somebody has moved past him. It is not a dropping and it is worse than one, because a dropping is about a Saturday and this is about where he stands.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
“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.
Market7 Dec 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Minnesota United FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Market7 Dec 2026
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Minnesota United FC, another week without a signature from D.J. Taylor.
The dugout7 Dec 2026
Peter Stroud gets picked when it counts
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Peter Stroud is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Minnesota United FC may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad30 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 Minnesota United FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad30 Nov 2026
Words at Minnesota United FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Pereyra 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 dugout30 Nov 2026
Something was said to Kelvin Yeboah and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
The dugout30 Nov 2026
“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 dugout30 Nov 2026
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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market16 Nov 2026
Only the photograph left for D.J. Taylor
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. D.J. Taylor will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Minnesota United FC the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Bongokuhle Hlongwane 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.
Squad16 Nov 2026
Words at Minnesota United FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Pereyra 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 dugout16 Nov 2026
“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 dugout16 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mauricio González is on it.
The dugout16 Nov 2026
Carlos Harvey knocks on the manager’s door
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Carlos Harvey trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Squad16 Nov 2026
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Minnesota United FC would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
The dugout16 Nov 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 Jefferson Díaz has written the date down.
From our football correspondent
Steady
The dugout2 Nov 2026
“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.
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 Minnesota United FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at Minnesota United FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Tommy Thompson 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 dugout2 Nov 2026
Something was said to Joaquín Pereyra and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad2 Nov 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Koa Santos commits to Minnesota United FC for another 3 years.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Marcus Caldeira is on it.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Carlos Harvey has moved up it.
The dugout2 Nov 2026
Kyle Duncan 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.
Market2 Nov 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomás Chancalay signs something — a contract at Minnesota United FC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market26 Oct 2026
Morris Duggan has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Minnesota United FC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Drake Callender 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.
Squad26 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Market26 Oct 2026
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
The dugout26 Oct 2026
Kyle Duncan 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.
Market26 Oct 2026
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Minnesota United FC know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Oct 2026
D.J. Taylor has one foot out of the door
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Minnesota United FC they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Market19 Oct 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Tomás Chancalay wants continental football; whether Minnesota United FC can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Bongokuhle Hlongwane 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.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Joaquín Pereyra was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Squad19 Oct 2026
10 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.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Kenyel Michel, and the manager let it.
The dugout19 Oct 2026
Every manager keeps a short list in his head of the men he wants on the pitch when the stakes rise, and it is never published. The team sheets for the big afternoons say Mauricio González is on it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad5 Oct 2026
A fracture rules Nectar Triantis out for 25 days
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason Minnesota United FC will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Squad5 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 Minnesota United FC this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad5 Oct 2026
Words at Minnesota United FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Joaquín Pereyra 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 dugout5 Oct 2026
“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.
Squad5 Oct 2026
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Minnesota United FC have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
Market5 Oct 2026
“They were honest with me, and I would rather know.” Carlos Harvey has been informed he is not in the manager's thinking at Minnesota United FC.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Marcus Caldeira has become a man the manager trusts
Nobody at Minnesota United FC 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.
Market5 Oct 2026
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Tomás Chancalay signs something — a contract at Minnesota United FC or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The dugout5 Oct 2026
Ho-yeon Jung 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 Minnesota United FC, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 35. 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.
Market21 Sep 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Minnesota United FC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Boardroom21 Sep 2026
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Morris Duggan has agreed terms with DC United for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Bongokuhle Hlongwane 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Words at Minnesota United FC training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Kyle Duncan 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
10 new signings in one window. Every one may be an upgrade and the side can still be worse for a while, which is the part of a rebuild the verdicts never mention.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
D.J. Taylor 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
The form table has caught Kyle Duncan
Somebody else has been better, the manager has said so with a team sheet, and there is no argument to be had. He will get the shirt back the only way it can be got back.
The dugout21 Sep 2026
The manager’s verdict
“I am frustrated, honestly. We did enough to win and we did not win.” Tim Morris was not hiding it after 0‑0, and nobody in the Minnesota United FC dressing room was either.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match19 Aug 2026
Colorado Rapids ended it 1‑2. The season narrows to the league now, and everyone in the ground knew it before the final whistle.
Market24 Aug 2026
LA Galaxy say no — this time
The offer from Empoli for João Klauss 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 ratings24 Aug 2026
Erik Thommy scored one and made one — 7.93
Two of the goals had his name somewhere on them, which is the afternoon a manager wants from anybody asked to both create and finish. 7.93, and 4 involvements.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
$3.1M was the most the club would pay and Seattle Sounders were asking for more. Deals like this are revived in the last week of a window roughly half the time, and everybody involved knows it.
Player ratings24 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 23. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
Squad24 Aug 2026
João Klauss 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 LA Galaxy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market24 Aug 2026
Pablo Ruiz wants European nights
The general version of this complaint is that a player wants more. The specific version names the thing: he wants to walk out under floodlights against clubs from other countries, and he has stopped pretending otherwise.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Hirving Lozano 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Hirving Lozano. 3‑1 against Sporting Kansas City, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Match19 Aug 2026
Toronto FC go through and Minnesota United FC go home, 0‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
Match22 Aug 2026
2 in front and in complete control, and it finished with Real Salt Lake the happier side. There is no version of this afternoon that Minnesota United FC will enjoy reviewing.
Market24 Aug 2026
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Minnesota United FC is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Market24 Aug 2026
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Tomás Chancalay wants continental football; whether Minnesota United FC can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Boardroom24 Aug 2026
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. D.J. Taylor 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.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Bongokuhle Hlongwane 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.
Match22 Aug 2026
Real Salt Lake left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad24 Aug 2026
Joaquín Pereyra 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.
Transfer targets24 Aug 2026
Minnesota United FC ran out of time with Philadelphia Union. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Player ratings10 Aug 2026
2 goals, and the second was the one that settled it. Marked 9.07, and he could have had a third with better luck at the near post.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
The clubs have shaken hands with Sporting Kansas City; the player has not yet. Personal terms are next, and personal terms are where more deals die than anybody prints.
Squad10 Aug 2026
6 saves, and a scoreline the ten men in front of him had no right to. Goalkeepers only get noticed on the bad days; this was one of the other ones.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 15 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
Transfer targets10 Aug 2026
$620.0K on the table at Philadelphia Union. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $660.0K — a club that wants Jeremy Rafanello enough to be asked twice.
Match8 Aug 2026
Seattle Sounders left with the points after a 4‑5 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.