Marked for John Nelson
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market4 Jan 2027
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at LA Galaxy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Riqui Puig in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at LA Galaxy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market4 Jan 2027
“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.
Squad4 Jan 2027
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
The terraces4 Jan 2027
Everybody has an opinion about Pavel Bucha
He is the name in every column and on every phone-in, which is a heavy thing to carry at any age. Some footballers thrive on it; others are quietly finished by it.
Squad4 Jan 2027
Somebody is after Marco Reus’s shirt
A new face in his position, and Marco Reus suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. LA Galaxy have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
Back issues
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Dec 2026
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what LA Galaxy can pretend not to have heard.
Squad28 Dec 2026
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Lucas Sanabria commits to LA Galaxy for another 5 years.
Squad28 Dec 2026
Marco Reus 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.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad14 Dec 2026
John Nelson in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at LA Galaxy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Market14 Dec 2026
Every press conference now starts and ends the same way: with Joseph Paintsil’s future. The manager has run out of new ways to say nothing.
Squad14 Dec 2026
The manager comes out for Riqui Puig
Public backing, and the sort that costs a manager something if it turns out to be wrong. Riqui Puig has been told in front of everybody that the shirt is his.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market23 Nov 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at LA Galaxy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad23 Nov 2026
“I was told what my role would be, and I signed on that basis. It has not happened.” A grievance with a date attached is the hardest kind to settle.
Squad23 Nov 2026
João Klauss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I remember the meeting. I remember exactly what was promised in it.” LA Galaxy may remember it differently, which is precisely the problem.
Squad16 Nov 2026
João Klauss in a row with a teammate
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at LA Galaxy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad16 Nov 2026
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Matheus Nascimento, and the manager let it.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market28 Sep 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at LA Galaxy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Squad28 Sep 2026
João Klauss was at the centre of it, and by the time it was pulled apart there were three or four others involved. Training grounds are small places and long seasons make them smaller.
Squad28 Sep 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Squad21 Sep 2026
Marco Reus 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.
Match19 Sep 2026
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: João Klauss. 3‑2 against Colorado Rapids, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 20. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Player ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 9.04 — 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
Marked 8.82 — 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 ratings21 Sep 2026
One of those days for Riqui Puig
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 8.63, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Julián Aude 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.
Squad21 Sep 2026
Marco Reus finally opens his account
He wheeled away like a man who had been carrying it for months, because he had. LA Galaxy have their signing off the mark and one press-conference question retired.
Squad21 Sep 2026
John Nelson asks for a word with the manager
“I would rather say it to his face than read about it.” The meeting was requested by the player, which tells you most of what you need to know.
From our football correspondent
Crisis
Market7 Sep 2026
“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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
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.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
Successful dribbles: 24. There is a particular sort of despair on a full-back's face by the seventieth minute, and it was on display.
Squad7 Sep 2026
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at LA Galaxy this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Match5 Sep 2026
Vancouver Whitecaps left with the points after a 2‑3 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Player ratings7 Sep 2026
One of those days for Riqui Puig
There is a version of this player everybody suspected was in there, and on this evidence it is. 9.15, and no argument anywhere in the ground.
Boardroom7 Sep 2026
245% of the income goes out in wages at LA Galaxy
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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
Miki Yamane 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.
Squad7 Sep 2026
The armband comes off Riqui Puig
LA Galaxy will explain it as a decision about the team, and it may well be one. A dressing room has never once read it that way.
From our football correspondent
Steady
Market31 Aug 2026
“This is not anger. I have thought about it for months, and nothing that has happened lately changed my mind.” The request is on a desk at LA Galaxy, and it is not being withdrawn.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
Successful dribbles: 32. Every time he got the ball somebody had to make a decision, and every time the decision was wrong.
Market31 Aug 2026
LA Galaxy say no — this time
The offer from RC Strasbourg for João Klauss was heard out and sent back the same day. First bids are rarely meant to succeed; they are meant to find out how loudly the door closes.
Squad31 Aug 2026
John Nelson 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.
Squad31 Aug 2026
“Nobody here is above being told.” It was not said with a name attached, but the dressing room can count, and so can everybody who was listening.
Player ratings31 Aug 2026
A performance of 8.68 does not come along often, and when it does the rest of the team becomes scenery. He was magnificent.