“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 The request is on a desk at San Jose Earthquakes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Lima has his answer from San Jose Earthquakes; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
“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 dugout14 Feb 2033
The manager has not finished forgetting Sota Kitahara'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.
Enzo Vázquez has done the arithmetic and does not like the answer. Nothing corrodes a squad faster, and no club has ever solved it by explaining the wage structure to a footballer.
Bones knit. That is the one merciful thing about this injury and the reason San Jose Earthquakes will talk about it more openly than they would about a knee. He will be back, and roughly when they say.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Juan José Mina will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Jose Earthquakes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Juan José Mina 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.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Jose Earthquakes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
An individual honour is a strange thing in a team game, and the best of them are never argued with. He has had the sort of year that ends with his name being read out, and San Jose Earthquakes have had the benefit of 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.
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.
41 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Jose Earthquakes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Brandan Craig 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.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
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 Zavier Gozo has written the date down.
1‑0 on the night and the tie is theirs. Somebody else’s season ended in the same ninety minutes, which the celebrations at San Jose Earthquakes are entitled to ignore.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Jose Earthquakes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about it.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Valentino Felicetti will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Jose Earthquakes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Player ratings8 Nov 2032
Up for the corner, and Sota Kitahara delivers — 7.93
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Sota Kitahara scored, was marked 7.93, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Paul Adams is living that version at San Jose Earthquakes, and it tends to show in the first month.
He is 19 and the ground already sings his name, which is a thing that happens to local boys and almost never to signings. Everything from here is measured against an affection he did nothing to earn except be from here.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Jose Earthquakes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 San Jose Earthquakes can pretend not to have heard.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Jose Earthquakes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Cole Bassett 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 happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph a local paper has to write. 35 years old, 3 points down on where he was, and a body that has started charging interest on a career.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
Marked 7.33 on an afternoon he ran from the first whistle to the last. Whatever else went wrong, San Jose Earthquakes had the best player on the pitch.
Warm-up bib, ninety minutes of watching, and a handshake at the end that fooled nobody. Big matches tell you who a manager trusts; this one told Jack Kortkamp.
“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.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Jose Earthquakes can pretend not to have heard.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. San Jose Earthquakes will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Jose Earthquakes has been clear about where Jesús Lara stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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 team at the top of the table next, and the honest measure of where this side actually is. Anybody can beat the club below them; the question is what happens against San Diego Football Club.
“I respect the manager and I am not going to sit here and pretend I am happy.” It is the most common sentence in football and it has never once been the end of a story.
Brutal, unambiguous and, for all the horror of the moment, usually less career-shaped than the ligament everybody fears more. 20 days, a clean timeline, and a return date somebody can actually plan around.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Brandan Craig will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Jose Earthquakes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Brandan Craig has agreed terms with LA Galaxy for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Brandan Craig 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“It is not the end of the world and it is not good enough. Both of those are true.” The manager, after a 1‑1 draw, said the honest thing and then went to say it again inside.
A bone, which is the one injury with a calendar attached. San Jose Earthquakes will name a return date and, unusually for this business, will probably be right about 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 San Jose Earthquakes can pretend not to have heard.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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.
A clause somebody insisted on years ago, in a negotiation nobody remembers, has just paid San Jose Earthquakes $51.0K. Noel Caliskan left a long time ago; the paperwork stayed.
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 Cristian Correa is on it.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Jose Earthquakes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Juan José Mina 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 most common injury in the game and the most rushed back from. San Jose Earthquakes will quote 14 days and will be careful with it, because the second one is always worse than the first.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then Seattle Sounders scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mahamat Thiam reports back to San Jose Earthquakes with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
San Jose Earthquakes 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.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
San Jose Earthquakes 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.
Marked 8.43 — the sort of number a correspondent writes down twice to be sure. Everything he tried came off, and what he did not try was not worth trying.
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.
San Jose Earthquakes and Philadelphia Union have settled on $2.0M. The rest belongs to the player and his agent, and a supporter who has watched one of these before knows not to buy the shirt yet.
29 in and 14 out, and no more changes for months. The manager has what he has, the supporters have their opinion of it, and the table will have the last word.
San Jose Earthquakes asked and Charlotte Football Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
Brandan Craig 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The chase for Santiago Morales ended with $810.0K changing hands and New York City out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
$990.0K was the most the club would pay and San Diego Football Club 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.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 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.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Jose Earthquakes can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” San Jose Earthquakes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Juan José Mina 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.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” DeJuan Jones and San Jose Earthquakes agree another 2 years.
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.
“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; San Jose Earthquakes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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.
100 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.
Half the programme played, position 5, 23 on the board. Doubling it is the sum every supporter has done and the only one nobody at the club will do out loud.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Jose Earthquakes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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 Jose Earthquakes 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.
Successful dribbles: 15. 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.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Griffin Yow is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 dugout24 May 2032
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 Interim Coach to a room that had heard them before.
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.
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.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” San Jose Earthquakes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Juan José Mina 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.
Everybody at San Jose Earthquakes saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 34 the decline is real and measurable — 3 points — and the only question left is how the club handles somebody it owes a great deal to.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 4‑0, Interim Coach could afford to be generous.
Two goals and a mark of 8.33 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
There is a version of every career where the player ends up somewhere he chose rather than somewhere that chose him. Valentino Felicetti is living that version at San Jose Earthquakes, and it tends to show in the first month.
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.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $97.7K of what San Jose Earthquakes paid for Anderson Julio is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 24 arrived, 9 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
A medical, a signature, a shirt held up in front of a sponsor’s board. San Jose Earthquakes have done the hard part with FC Dallas, and the part that remains is the part supporters actually see.
$1.2M was the most the club would pay and Colorado Rapids 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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.
7 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.
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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Connor Dempsey trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Alexis Iturria will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Jose Earthquakes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
The offer went to Colorado Rapids 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.
The offer went to CF Montreal 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $721.5K — a club that wants Christian Olivares enough to be asked twice.
$470.0K was the most the club would pay and Portland Timbers 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.
At 35, 3 points below where he was, and a body that has started charging interest. It happens to all of them and it is still the hardest paragraph on this page.
In brief
SquadNicksoen Gomis falls out with a teammate over standards
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what San Jose Earthquakes can pretend not to have heard.
San Jose Earthquakes have gone to Portland Timbers 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.
San Jose Earthquakes have gone to Vancouver Whitecaps 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.
Brandan Craig 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.
Charlotte Football Club paid $410.0K and San Jose Earthquakes took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. River Plate have kept their man, and San Jose Earthquakes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 2‑1 win over Portland Timbers, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
24 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Jose Earthquakes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
“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 San Jose Earthquakes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Vancouver Whitecaps did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $530.0K for Brian Schwake, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
Diego García 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.
$250.0K was the most the club would pay and DC United 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.
San Jose Earthquakes asked and LA Galaxy 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.
A squad rebuilt inside one window pays for it in a currency nobody budgets for. The football is not worse than the sum of the players; it is worse than the sum of the players who have played together before.
31 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. San Jose Earthquakes lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Jose Earthquakes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
San Jose Earthquakes offered $1.0M; Toronto FC 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.
The clubs had agreed and the player had not. A snub, and a public one: FC Cincinnati keep him, and the supporters here are left wondering what he had heard about the place.
Brandan Craig 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LA Galaxy have kept their man, and San Jose Earthquakes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
A 1‑0 win over Houston Dynamo, earned rather than given, and the sort of afternoon that sends everyone home talking about next week instead of this one.
“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; San Jose Earthquakes are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
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 words a physio says slowly. 38 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.
Griffin Yow had done his part in building a 2-goal cushion. What happened after that was collective, and Sporting Kansas City were allowed back into a match that had been finished with.
Player ratings15 Mar 2032
A brace, and Griffin Yow takes the afternoon — 8.23
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Griffin Yow provided it, and the 8.23 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
4 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.
$56.0K 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. LA Galaxy have kept their man, and San Jose Earthquakes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
45 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Jose Earthquakes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The fee is $6.0M, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Sporting Kansas City drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 San Jose Earthquakes can pretend not to have heard.
San Jose Earthquakes asked and Austin 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.
Jaider Pérez 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.
17 boys move up, and somewhere in the building the people who coached them at twelve are quietly having the best morning of their working year. Nothing about this shows up in a result and it is why the academy exists.
Boards get told what they have done wrong for years and hear nothing on the days they get it right. This is one of those days: Griffin Yow from Sporting Kansas City for $6.0M, and a ticket office having a very good morning.
The academy exists for exactly this morning. Alex Howard 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.
Clubs spend fortunes looking for players and occasionally find one down the corridor. James Tillman is that, and the reception he gets on his first appearance will be different in kind from the one any signing receives.
The words a physio says slowly. 66 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.
“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 San Jose Earthquakes, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer went to San Diego Football Club 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.
Diego García 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.
San Jose Earthquakes offered $54.0K; Seattle Sounders 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.
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.
87 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. San Jose Earthquakes lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Jose Earthquakes is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Paul Musah
The words a physio says slowly. 108 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.
The board have said in public what they had been saying in private. Results between now and the next meeting decide it, and everybody in the building knows the arithmetic.
Nothing has been announced and everybody understands what it means. A board that summons the whole football department on a Tuesday morning is a board that has stopped believing the problem will fix itself.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Isaiah LeFlore and San Jose Earthquakes agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Brandan Craig 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 Jan 2032
Brandan Craig is still being punished for one mistake
Nobody will confirm it and the team sheets confirm it every week. One error has bought him a spell as second choice that is already longer than the error deserved.
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 Malachi Molina is on it.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Lima's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” San Jose Earthquakes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Brandan Craig 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Nicksoen Gomis was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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 Isaiah LeFlore is on it.
He is not being dropped. There is simply nowhere in the formation San Jose Earthquakes are playing to put a man who does what he does, which is a harder thing to be told than any team sheet.
2 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Jose Earthquakes could ask drops and the wages Taha Habroune can ask rise.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room and never have. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and at San Jose Earthquakes that is a harder question to answer.
Nobody upstairs has said anything, which is the loudest thing they could do. Results buy silence in this game; the account at San Jose Earthquakes is running low.
Diego García 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 Nathan Harriel is on it.
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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at San Jose Earthquakes, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Clubs make promises constantly and the page usually only hears about them when they are broken. This one was honoured, and the dressing room noticed that faster than any supporter did.
1 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Jose Earthquakes could ask drops and the wages Lazar Stefanovic can ask rise.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Timo Werner signs something — a contract at San Jose Earthquakes or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Jose Earthquakes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” San Jose Earthquakes have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Brandan Craig 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.
Squad17 Nov 2031
Jaider Pérez 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.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 35 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for San Jose Earthquakes is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Lazar Stefanovic will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around San Jose Earthquakes the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Brandan Craig 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaider Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Every long career reaches the week the last one is thought about. He would like it to be where he started, and San Jose Earthquakes know now that the thought has arrived.
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 Donovan Parisian is on it.
43 graduates, from a department now rated 9 out of 20. Nothing about the academy appears in a result, and nothing about the club’s future exists without it.
“Judge me on him.” Managers do not say that kind of thing by accident — it moves the pressure from Taha Habroune’s shoulders onto his own, and both of them know it.
In brief
SquadNicksoen Gomis is training like a man with a point to make
The board’s statement ran to three sentences and one of them mentioned results. Interim Coach has managed long enough to translate: win soon, or the next statement is shorter.
“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 San Jose Earthquakes, and it is not being withdrawn.
Diego García 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 Taha Habroune is on it.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Jose Earthquakes has been clear about where Gio Aaronson stands, which is more than many ever get.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at San Jose Earthquakes. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Paul Musah trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Jose Earthquakes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Taha Habroune trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at San Jose Earthquakes has been clear about where Francesco Montali stands, which is more than many ever get.
4 months left, and both sides know what that means: every week without a signature, the fee San Jose Earthquakes could ask drops and the wages Taha Habroune can ask rise.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around San Jose Earthquakes they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $153.2K of what San Jose Earthquakes paid for Michael Creek is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 7.85 at 34, and nobody on the pitch was better.
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 7.10 for the rest of it.
The rules permit it and it stings anyway. Taha Habroune has agreed terms with FC Cincinnati for the summer, and until then he pulls on this shirt as a player who has already chosen his next one.
Brandan Craig 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 remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” San Jose Earthquakes may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
“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 San Jose Earthquakes, and it is not being withdrawn.
“I watch every San Jose Earthquakes game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Columbus Crew runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Nicksoen Gomis 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 club 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 it has been tried.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. San Jose Earthquakes have paid $660.0K for Mahamat Thiam, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
$350.0K on the table at St. Louis CITY SC. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
San Jose Earthquakes asked and San Diego Football Club said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
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 Jose Earthquakes this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Donovan Parisian 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Orlando City have kept their man, and San Jose Earthquakes go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Jaider Pérez was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“I have tried. I have really tried, and every day I wake up in the wrong place.” Nobody at San Jose Earthquakes can coach that out of a man, and nobody there is pretending to.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. San Jose Earthquakes told Donovan Parisian something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
5 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.