Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around FC Dallas they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
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 Dallas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.94 — 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 clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at FC Dallas is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
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 Dallas this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“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 The request is on a desk at Sporting Kansas City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The clubs have agreed terms, and what remains is formality: a medical, a photograph, a signature. Nobody at Sporting Kansas City is pretending he will be back in the shirt.
Shapi Suleymanov 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Calvin Harris trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The list is a quiet document with a loud meaning. Tiago Pucciarelli may talk to anybody who asks, and everybody at the club understands what that means.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City 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 Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City 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 Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Matías Córdoba trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Sporting Kansas City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Sporting Kansas City has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sporting Kansas City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Stefan Cleveland and Sporting Kansas City agree another 1 years.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Position 14 and 25 points, and the table gets read bottom-up in this part of town. The calendar has stopped being a schedule and started being a countdown.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City can pretend not to have heard.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sporting Kansas City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Terms are settled between the clubs and the rest is paperwork and a photograph. Around Sporting Kansas City they have already started talking about him in the past tense.
Shapi Suleymanov 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 has to pick the team on Saturday, and this week that is me.” An interim appointment with no promises attached, which is how most of them start.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Sporting Kansas City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” Sporting Kansas City may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 6 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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 Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Marked 8.02 — 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.
It needed Leandro Lescano to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Minnesota United FC, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
0‑3 to Seattle Sounders, and it was every bit as bad as the number suggests. There are defeats you argue about and defeats you apologise for; this was the second kind.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City can pretend not to have heard.
Manoel 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.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Tommy Thompson will call it something else in private.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Sporting Kansas City 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.” Sporting Kansas City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A defender's mistake gets tidied up by somebody else; a goalkeeper's ends up in the net. He knew before the ball crossed the line, and so did everybody in the ground.
“I did not go to Pachuca to sit and watch. I want to come back to Sporting Kansas City and fight for my place.” 8 appearances in 33 matches say the rest.
“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 Sporting Kansas City, 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 Sporting Kansas City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Sporting Kansas City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Lasse Berg Johnsen signs something — a contract at Sporting Kansas City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“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 fee is $520.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. Philadelphia Union drove a hard bargain; time will say who won 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 FC Cincinnati this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
A shoot-out is remembered by its ending, and this one ends with Roman Celentano: 3 kept out, and a set of supporters who will describe every one of them for the next twenty years.
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.
Headers, blocks, tackles, interceptions — 17 of them, and not one goal behind him. The sort of performance that never makes a highlight reel and wins football matches.
The chase for Tristan Blackmon ended with $1.8M changing hands and Vancouver Whitecaps out of reasons to say no. The supporters will judge the fee the only way that matters: on Saturdays.
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.
“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.
“The manager did not use many words, and he did not need to.” Tommy Thompson has his answer from FC Cincinnati; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at FC Cincinnati has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the team. 11 saves, several of them the sort nobody expects to see stopped, and a scoreline that flatters everybody in front of 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.
Marked 8.32 — 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 easiest signature of my career.” Tommy Thompson and FC Cincinnati agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“I am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at FC Cincinnati, and 0 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
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.
It needed Bruno Damiani to find the net to bring anything home at all: 2‑2 against Philadelphia Union, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.