“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 The request is on a desk at FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evander 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Roman Celentano 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. David Douděra wants continental football; whether FC Cincinnati can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Successful dribbles: 17. There was always a defender in front of him and there was never a defender in front of him for long.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We will look at it, we will learn from it, and we go again.” The three sentences every manager keeps for a 0‑1 defeat, delivered by Cameron Turner to a room that had heard them before.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 25 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Everything agreed with Los Angeles Football Club, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and San Diego Football Club waiting with a shirt. Nobody at FC Cincinnati is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
FC Cincinnati have gone to New England Revolution with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Kévin Denkey and FC Cincinnati agree another 4 years.
Roman Celentano 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
In brief
SquadEvander falls out with a teammate over standards
34 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from Atlanta United FC for Gerardo Valenzuela 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.
FC Cincinnati have gone to New York Red Bulls with a bid, and the supporters have gone to the internet with an opinion about it. Whether either changes anything is up to the selling club.
The offer went to Seattle Sounders this week and it is theirs to answer. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loud the door closes.
FC Cincinnati asked and Chicago Fire said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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.
Successful dribbles: 19. 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.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Cincinnati lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FC Cincinnati have lost him in all but the paperwork.
Roman Celentano 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad5 Jul 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evander 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.
50 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer from PWD Bamenda for Brian Anunga 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.
Roman Celentano 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.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. David Douděra wants continental football; whether FC Cincinnati can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad28 Jun 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evander 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.
57 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Position 5, 24 points, and every result so far reduced to one line. The second half of the season starts with the same squad and a different set of expectations.
64 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
The last thing about a transfer that is still about the player is his signature on his own terms, and it is there. FC Cincinnati have lost him in all but the paperwork.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Nicolás Rodríguez wants continental football; whether FC Cincinnati can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
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.
73 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. FC Cincinnati lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The phone has started ringing about Brian Anunga again, and this time the name on the line is PWD Bamenda. FC Cincinnati are listening politely and promising nothing.
“I did not go to Minnesota United FC to sit and watch. I want to come back to FC Cincinnati and fight for my place.” 6 appearances in 13 matches say the rest.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑1, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
80 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. FC Cincinnati lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
Successful dribbles: 29. 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.
Roman Celentano 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.
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.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 0‑0 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
The one version of being left out a player cannot argue with, and the one he takes worst. Somebody else has been better and the team sheet says so, in public, every week until it changes.
Charlotte Football Club arrive as leaders. A side at the top is beaten roughly once a month, and the club that does it gets a week it remembers for a year.
The words a physio says slowly. 88 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.
Two goals and a mark of 8.72 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
“I have given this everything, but my family is not here and neither am I, not really.” A footballer can be coached out of bad form. Nobody has ever been coached out of this, and FC Cincinnati know it.
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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kévin Denkey. 2‑1 against CF Montreal, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
5 without a win is the sort of run that changes how a town talks about its club, and CF Montreal were the afternoon it stopped. Nothing is fixed by one result and everything feels different by one.
“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 FC Cincinnati, and it is not being withdrawn.
Successful dribbles: 32. 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.
“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.
Boardroom26 Apr 2027
Deadline passes with 5 signed and 4 gone
That is the business done at FC Cincinnati until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
The fee was agreed and the flight was looked at — and then the phone stopped ringing. New York Red Bulls moved on, Kristian Fletcher reports back to FC Cincinnati, and everybody pretends Monday is just Monday.
Nicolás Rodríguez 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad26 Apr 2027
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evander 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 deal with Orlando City is done in every sense but the one that puts him on the pitch. Nothing goes wrong at this stage, except on the occasions when it does.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
The name of Kenji Mboma Dem has come up in conversations FC Cincinnati were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Roman Celentano 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.
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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Plymouth Argyle have kept their man, and FC Cincinnati go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Cameron Turner after 0‑1, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
Successful dribbles: 26. 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.
FC Cincinnati asked and Atlanta United FC said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
$520.0K was the most the club would pay and Atlanta United FC 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.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Kévin Denkey. 1‑0 against Philadelphia Union, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
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.
200 times in these colours, in all weathers and under four or five different managers. That kind of service is quietly disappearing from the game.
Boardroom8 Mar 2027
The ground is getting bigger
The plans are signed off at a capacity of 35212. Decisions like this are judged twenty years later, by people who were not in the room when they were taken.
$6.0M was the most the club would pay and St. Louis CITY SC 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what FC Cincinnati can pretend not to have heard.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. FC Cincinnati have done the hard part with Minnesota United FC, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$470.0K on the table at DC United. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Roman Celentano 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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.
Roman Celentano 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Squad21 Dec 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evander 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.
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 Roman Celentano is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” FC Cincinnati have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Roman Celentano 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 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at FC Cincinnati, another week without a signature from Gerardo Valenzuela.
Evander 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Squad2 Nov 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Matt Miazga 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.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miles Robinson signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at FC Cincinnati 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.
Roman Celentano 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 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.
At 26 the improving is meant to be over, and it is not: 3 points better than a year ago. It happens to the ones who take the boring parts seriously.
Squad19 Oct 2026
Words at FC Cincinnati training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Evander 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 academy exists for exactly this morning. Alex Aaronson 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Matt Miazga was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Evan Louro has his answer from FC Cincinnati; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
A window away with the national side, and a shirt at FC Cincinnati that briefly doubles as an advertisement. A call-up flatters the player and the club that built him in the same breath.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Boardroom5 Oct 2026
92% of the income goes out in wages at FC Cincinnati
Every club in football pays most of what it earns to its players. Paying nearly all of it is a different arrangement, and it has ended the same way every time somebody has tried it.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Kyle Smith has his answer from FC Cincinnati; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Miles Robinson signs something — a contract at FC Cincinnati or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at FC Cincinnati 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at FC Cincinnati, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at FC Cincinnati. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
13 combined actions and 7.35. The job he did is the one that shows up as other people looking good, and the only reliable way to notice it is to watch what happens on the afternoons he is missing.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Pavel Bucha, and the manager let it.
Squad31 Aug 2026
Bryan Ramírez 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.
Nobody will confirm this and nothing else explains the last month of selections. A costly error buys a player a period of being second choice that is always longer than the error was.
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.
Roman Celentano 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.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether FC Cincinnati can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
6 goals in one match, Dylan Teves on the scoresheet, and a scoreline that will look like a misprint. Neutrals could not have asked more of FC Cincinnati and Inter Miami CF.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
7.72, 1 on the scoresheet, and the specific comedy of a back-four player celebrating like somebody who does this every week. He does not, and that is exactly why the ground reacted the way it did.
Boardroom10 Aug 2026
Deadline passes with 18 signed and 0 gone
That is the business done at FC Cincinnati until the window opens again. Whether it was enough will be answered on Saturdays rather than in a column, and the first Saturday is close.
Roman Celentano 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.
“I want to win things, and I would like to do it here.” Nothing has been demanded and nothing has been threatened — but a boardroom at FC Cincinnati hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
The name of Samuel Gidi has come up in conversations FC Cincinnati were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Evander was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at FC Cincinnati heard it as anything else.
FC Cincinnati offered $540.0K; Real Salt Lake said it was not close. The manager will be told the money is still there for the right player, which is what managers are told.
Kévin Denkey 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 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.