Marked for DeAndre Yedlin
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Player ratings17 Jun 2030
Successful dribbles: 32. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match15 Jun 2030
No end in sight to Real Salt Lake's wait for a win
7 matches now without a victory, and the excuses have worn thinner than the patience. Somebody at Real Salt Lake has to find a result from somewhere.
Squad17 Jun 2030
Morgan Guilavogui was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings17 Jun 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.87, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad17 Jun 2030
The manager makes an example of Petter Strand
“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.
Player ratings17 Jun 2030
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.73, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match15 Jun 2030
2‑2, and both dressing rooms will call it two points lost. A draw that asked plenty of questions and answered none of them.
Player ratings17 Jun 2030
Shots: 10, enough of them from close enough that a striker in form scores two. He is not a striker in form.
Squad17 Jun 2030
DeAndre Yedlin 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 DeAndre Yedlin trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Player ratings29 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 43, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings29 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 42. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market29 Apr 2030
Petter Strand hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Salt Lake can pretend not to have heard.
Squad29 Apr 2030
A one-man rearguard from Ryan Schewe
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Player ratings29 Apr 2030
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 28 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
Player ratings29 Apr 2030
Defensive actions: 24. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Market29 Apr 2030
Everything was agreed until it was not, and Mohamed Bob reports back to Real Salt Lake with a summer to forget. Neither club is saying who walked away from the table.
Squad29 Apr 2030
“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 Real Salt Lake know it.
Squad29 Apr 2030
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad22 Apr 2030
Morgan Guilavogui was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings22 Apr 2030
Successful dribbles: 21. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad22 Apr 2030
“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.
Squad22 Apr 2030
30 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Market22 Apr 2030
Nashville SC are about to pick up the phone
A conversation is coming this week. Real Salt Lake will put a number on him, and from there it stops being football and becomes arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad3 Dec 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” DeAndre Yedlin commits to Real Salt Lake for another 2 years.
Squad3 Dec 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad26 Nov 2029
DeAndre Yedlin: 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.” Real Salt Lake have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad26 Nov 2029
Morgan Guilavogui 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 Nov 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Tyler Wolff, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market8 Oct 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Salt Lake can pretend not to have heard.
Squad8 Oct 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“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 Real Salt Lake know it.
Squad8 Oct 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Mason Stajduhar, and the manager let it.
Market8 Oct 2029
At 33, he has seen every situation this season can produce, twice. The legs will be managed; the head is the purchase.
Squad8 Oct 2029
DeAndre Yedlin 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 Real Salt Lake, and both men came out saying it was fine.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Market1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
Morgan Guilavogui 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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
“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.
Squad1 Oct 2029
DeAndre Yedlin 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 Real Salt Lake, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Squad1 Oct 2029
A season on the outside for Kevin Altez
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Real Salt Lake has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Market13 Aug 2029
“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 Real Salt Lake, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad13 Aug 2029
There were 7 saves in it, and at least three that had no business being saves at all. The ten outfield players owe him a drink and they know it.
Squad13 Aug 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
Marked 9.22 — 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.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.05, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Aug 2029
Defences have started doubling up on Kevin Altez
6 goals and a season average of 7.37 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings13 Aug 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.03, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad13 Aug 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Uneasy
Match30 Jun 2029
9 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.
Market2 Jul 2029
Mario Suárez hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Salt Lake can pretend not to have heard.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Real Salt Lake may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad2 Jul 2029
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Rafael Cabral and Real Salt Lake agree another 2 years.
Squad2 Jul 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings2 Jul 2029
Successful dribbles: 18. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad7 May 2029
Philip Quinton: 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.” Real Salt Lake have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Market7 May 2029
Daniel Afful hands in a written request
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Salt Lake can pretend not to have heard.
Market7 May 2029
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Real Salt Lake heard it as anything else.
Squad7 May 2029
Morgan Guilavogui 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.
Squad7 May 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” DeAndre Yedlin and Real Salt Lake agree another 2 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Player ratings7 May 2029
Successful dribbles: 20. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Match5 May 2029
Beaten 1‑2, and beaten fairly. The manager kept his words short afterwards, which was probably wise.
Player ratings7 May 2029
A performance of 9.02 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad7 May 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market30 Apr 2029
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Real Salt Lake can pretend not to have heard.
Squad30 Apr 2029
Stijn Spierings 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“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 Real Salt Lake know it.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
A performance of 9.09 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.09, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Match28 Apr 2029
It finished 2‑1, and it was Tyler Wolff’s afternoon: on the scoresheet when it mattered, and the reason the points belong to Real Salt Lake.
Player ratings30 Apr 2029
Marked 8.50 — 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.
Squad30 Apr 2029
“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.
From our football correspondent
Upbeat
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
A defender's afternoon for Renzo Uriburu
Defensive actions: 28. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 23. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad26 Mar 2029
Morgan Guilavogui was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.93, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Player ratings26 Mar 2029
A performance of 8.10 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to DeAndre Yedlin, and the manager let it.
Squad26 Mar 2029
The first one is the one every signing is asked about until it arrives. It has arrived, and he can stop being asked.
Squad26 Mar 2029
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Gonzalo Valenzuela trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market19 Mar 2029
“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.
Squad19 Mar 2029
52 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
A defender's afternoon for Renzo Uriburu
Defensive actions: 25. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 22. He was first to everything and second to nothing, and the goalkeeper had an easy day because of it.
Squad19 Mar 2029
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Defensive actions: 18, and a clean sheet at the end of it. A centre-half's best afternoons look like nothing happening, which is precisely the point.
Player ratings19 Mar 2029
Successful dribbles: 17. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market19 Mar 2029
Both sides expect a conversation in the coming days. Real Salt Lake will name a price, and everything after that is arithmetic.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad15 Jan 2029
Morgan Guilavogui 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.
Squad15 Jan 2029
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to DeAndre Yedlin, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad8 Jan 2029
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market8 Jan 2029
He left as a boy and has come back still knowing where the away end is. Most signings have to be explained to a town; this one needed a photograph and nothing else.
Squad8 Jan 2029
“The easiest signature of my career.” Alex Harris and Real Salt Lake agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Squad8 Jan 2029
Emilio Lazza 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.
Squad8 Jan 2029
DeAndre Yedlin 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 Real Salt Lake, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Market8 Jan 2029
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Juan Manuel Sanabria signs something — a contract at Real Salt Lake or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market27 Nov 2028
“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.
Market27 Nov 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Real Salt Lake is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad27 Nov 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad20 Nov 2028
DeAndre Yedlin: 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.” Real Salt Lake have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad20 Nov 2028
Morgan Guilavogui 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.
Squad20 Nov 2028
The manager makes an example of Tyler Wolff
“If you cannot run for the shirt, somebody else will wear it.” No name was used and none was needed; every player in that room knew who it was for.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Squad9 Oct 2028
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Real Salt Lake may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Successful dribbles: 25. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Squad9 Oct 2028
Morgan Guilavogui was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad9 Oct 2028
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” DeAndre Yedlin and Real Salt Lake agree another 2 years.
Squad9 Oct 2028
9 goals and a season average of 7.40 will do that. The space he used to find has gone; he keeps scoring anyway, which is the mark of the real thing.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Shots: 11. Goals: none. The chances were there and they were good ones, and they went into the stand, the goalkeeper's arms and the side netting in roughly that order.
Market9 Oct 2028
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Diego Luna’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Player ratings9 Oct 2028
Shots: 5, not one of them in. A centre forward is paid for one thing, and on this evidence he has forgotten which thing it is.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market2 Oct 2028
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Real Salt Lake is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Squad2 Oct 2028
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Real Salt Lake this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad2 Oct 2028
15 days, the medical staff say, and medical staff are optimists by profession. The team sheet will look wrong without him.