51 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orlando City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
The clubs have settled the fee and he has settled his wages. What remains is a medical and a photograph, and around Orlando City people have started saying his name in the past tense.
Some goals win a match and some take one off somebody else. Justin Ellis scored in the 88th minute, New York Red Bulls had already begun thinking about the journey home, and Orlando City took the lot.
“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 The request is on a desk at Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Boardroom30 Apr 2029
Orlando City close the window on a squad of their own making
10 in and 9 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.
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.
Owen Graham-Roache 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 words a physio says slowly. 58 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.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at Philadelphia Union is saying, and nobody at Orlando City is enjoying the guessing.
“I know what people will say. I know what I want, and it is here.” New England Revolution had the fee agreed and the shirt ready; they did not have the player, and now they will not.
The offer went to LA Galaxy 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.
Antoine Griezmann 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 phone has started ringing about Griffin Yow again, and this time the name on the line is Minnesota United FC. Orlando City are listening politely and promising nothing.
$130.0K 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.
Squad23 Apr 2029
Martín Ojeda 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.
66 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orlando City 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. Orlando City have lost him in all but the paperwork.
$2.8M was the most the club would pay and Vancouver Whitecaps 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.
1 for Eduard Atuesta, marked 7.86, and a centre-half's name in the part of the report he normally only reaches by mistake. He will not be allowed to forget it in the dressing room for a month.
Antoine Griezmann 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
75 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orlando City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
2 kept out from twelve yards, and a stadium that will describe each of them for twenty years. A goalkeeper needs one night like this in a career, and this was it.
The offer went to Vancouver Whitecaps 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.
$3.1M was the most the club would pay and New York City 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $3.3M — a club that wants Ruben Ramos enough to be asked twice.
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.
The words a physio says slowly. 83 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.
He arrived for a fee and leaves for a fraction of it. $89.9K of what Orlando City paid for Bryce Duke is money the club will not see again, and the boardroom will be asked about it for two seasons.
$3.1M on the table at New York City. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
The offer from Columbus Crew for Griffin Yow 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 paid $2.5M and Orlando City took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
San Jose Earthquakes pay $780.0K, and the deal is done. The number reads well on a balance sheet; whether it reads well on the pitch is next season's question.
Owen Graham-Roache 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.
Orlando City 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 words a physio says slowly. 90 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.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Justin Ellis had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Cincinnati have kept their man, and Orlando City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The deal with Vancouver Whitecaps 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.
Add another name to the list: Columbus Crew have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Griffin Yow. The answer from Orlando City has not changed — yet.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Griffin Dorsey 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Griffin Yow
The dugoutIván Angulo knocks on the manager's door
99 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orlando City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
FC Cincinnati have accepted the money. What Orlando City do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
At 38 he is supposed to be managing his minutes. Instead he was marked 7.96 and looked, for ninety minutes, exactly like the player everybody remembers.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $4.5M — a club that wants Noah Streit enough to be asked twice.
Orlando City offered $48.0K; FC Cincinnati 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
108 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orlando City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Orlando City offered $3.0M; LA Galaxy 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 offer from New England Revolution for Justin Ellis 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.
The fee is $240.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. San Jose Earthquakes drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
Owen Graham-Roache 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
117 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orlando City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The offer from Houston Dynamo for Griffin Yow 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.
The shirt still fits. Owen Graham-Roache is back at Orlando City, and half the ground remembers him in these colours already. Some signings need selling to the town; this one sold itself.
Fee agreed, terms agreed, medical booked. Nolan Miller will be somebody else’s player by the weekend, and around Orlando City the goodbyes have quietly begun.
Everything agreed with San Jose Earthquakes, everything agreed with the player; a doctor is the only person left to persuade. The photograph is a day or two away.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
$260.0K 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.
125 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orlando City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
$10.4M was the most the club would pay and LA Galaxy 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.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The phone has started ringing about Griffin Yow again, and this time the name on the line is Houston Dynamo. Orlando City are listening politely and promising nothing.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
There is no worse way to lose a footballer. Nolan Miller has pre-agreed a move away, which means every appearance between now and June is made by a man the club can no longer sell, and somebody upstairs will be asked why the contract was allowed to get here.
Antoine Griezmann 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 Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
133 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orlando City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
The offer went to Charlotte 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.
Orlando City and New York City have settled on $520.0K. 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.
Antoine Griezmann 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 offer went to Portland Timbers 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda 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.” Colin Guske has his answer from Orlando City; what he does with it is the next window’s story.
In brief
The dugoutZakaria Taifi knocks on the manager's door
The words a physio says slowly. 140 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.
“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.
Squad12 Feb 2029
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
Aiden Hezarkhani 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.
148 days on the announcement, and a year of quiet, unwatched rehabilitation behind it. Orlando City lose a player for a season; he loses something harder to name.
“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.
Squad5 Feb 2029
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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.
41 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
155 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orlando City 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 Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Jan 2029
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 Martín Ojeda signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Zakaria Taifi 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 Sebastian Soto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Orlando City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
Antoine Griezmann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad15 Jan 2029
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Orlando City has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Orlando City have no good answer.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Iago trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Robin Jansson and Orlando City agree another 2 years.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Orlando City would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
A new partner, a signature and a photograph nobody will remember. It funds a fortnight of wages, which is more than most headlines on this page can say for themselves.
The kind of year that ends with a name being read out in a hall. Orlando City had the benefit of it every week and now have the problem of everybody else knowing.
David Brekalo 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 Jan 2029
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 easiest signature of my career.” Andrew Farrell and Orlando City agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
It is not much of a headline and it is the reason players believe the next promise. Orlando City told Griffin Yow something would happen and then it happened, which in this industry passes for remarkable.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Iván Angulo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
18 days, the scan says, and scans are kinder than reality. The fixtures in that window have just become somebody else’s job.
Squad18 Dec 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando 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 Iván Angulo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Orlando City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
There are footballers who have a good season and footballers a season is remembered for, and the second kind get their names read out in a hall in the summer. Orlando City will be quietly delighted and privately nervous.
Maxime Crépeau 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.
41 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Orlando City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
14 days on the estimate, and a long, private, unglamorous year of a rehabilitation nobody watches. Orlando City lose a footballer; he loses considerably more than a season.
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.
Zakaria Taifi 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 am grateful for the games, but I did not become a footballer to be somebody else's spare part.” He wants to be at Orlando City, and 5 appearances in 16 say he has earned the hearing.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Justin Ellis trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
The words a physio says slowly. 23 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.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
Something was said to Sebastian Soto and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
The words a physio says slowly. 31 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 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 at Orlando City saw it before anybody said it, which is how this always goes. At 36 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.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The words a physio says slowly. 39 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City 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 Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Griffin Yow trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
A call-up flatters the player and the club that produced him in the same breath. Orlando City would like him back in one piece and know they will not be consulted.
Position 6 on 41 points, and the places that carry a European ticket are close enough to count. Seasons like this are decided by two results in April, and the club knows which two.
Orlando City have made Erik Dueñas available for transfer. A career at this club is over in all but paperwork.
In brief
BoardroomThe Orlando City production line keeps running
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Iván Angulo
119Edition
The Orlando City Herald
6 Nov 2028
From our football correspondentUneasy
Squad6 Nov 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
Griffin Dorsey 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.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Orlando City, another week without a signature from Maxime Crépeau.
“I watch every Orlando City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Toronto FC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Not a new contract, not a new number: a new place in the manager’s thinking, which is the only promotion in football that actually matters. Jack Kortkamp has moved up it.
Philadelphia Union go through. The table said this team was good enough for months and the format does not care what the table said, which is the argument every eliminated club has had with itself since playoffs were invented.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad30 Oct 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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.
Griffin Dorsey 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.
Successful dribbles: 20. 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 pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Maxime Crépeau, and the manager let it.
Boardroom30 Oct 2028
Nobody left the Orlando City dressing room in a hurry
The door stayed shut a long time after the final whistle. What was said in there is between them; whether it worked is between them and Saturday.
The dugout30 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Omer Torun left the room before anybody could ask which.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Andrew Farrell and Orlando City agree another 1 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
In brief
The dugoutRobin Jansson dropped after a run of poor form
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Maxime Crépeau 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 Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to David Brekalo and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Martín Ojeda 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.
David Brekalo 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.
Nothing in writing and nothing in public: a word about playing time, given face to face at Orlando City. The team sheets over the next month will show whether it was worth having.
41 points from position 6. The title is somebody else’s business and the drop is somebody else’s problem; what is left is the argument about passports.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and DeAndre McKennie trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Toronto FC go through and Orlando City go home, 2‑1 the scoreline that did it. The dressing room will call the league the priority now, because that is what dressing rooms say.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.06 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Antoine Griezmann and Orlando City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Antoine Griezmann 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
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
He is 23 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.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Griffin Yow, and the manager let it.
The dugout9 Oct 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Omer Torun kept it short after the 2‑1 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
A mark of 7.90 means one thing beside a twenty-nine-year-old's name and something else entirely beside a 21-year-old's. Nobody at the ground needed telling which this was.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Antoine Griezmann and Orlando City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
At 21 he was better than everybody his age in the division for four weeks running, which is harder than one good afternoon. Orlando City will try not to make too much of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Orlando City pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“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.
Another week, another link, another denial nobody quite believes. Orlando City know the market decides these things, not the back pages — but the back pages are louder.
The shape wanted a different profile against this opponent, which is a real football answer and no comfort at all to the man it is about. He did nothing wrong and he did not play.
7.81, 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.
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 7.80 for the rest of it.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals before the ground had finished arriving. Charlotte Football Club spent the rest of the afternoon playing a match that had already been decided, and everybody in the stadium knew it.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Omer Torun on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
The injury that keeps coming back, keeps being rushed back from, and quietly costs more careers than the dramatic ones. 18 days is the estimate; the honest figure depends on whether anybody is patient.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Griffin Dorsey 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 Harvey Sarajian trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
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 Aaron Musah has written the date down.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 7 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.16 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City 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 Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
3 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
“We keep meeting, and we keep leaving the room with the same numbers we walked in with.” Another round of talks at Orlando City, another week without a signature from Maxime Crépeau.
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Aiden Hezarkhani has come out of that comparison in the side, and Orlando City have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“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 Orlando 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 Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad28 Aug 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
Behind, and beaten by any honest reading, until minute 87. CF Montreal had the points in their pocket and a corner of the ground still believed, which is generally when it happens.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” Gustavo Caraballo and Orlando City agree another 4 years.
“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.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Antoine Griezmann provided it, and the 8.89 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
Orlando City asked and FC Cincinnati 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 is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Everybody saw it before anybody said it. At 36 the numbers say 3 points down on what he was, and the question for Orlando City is how to handle a man they owe a great deal.
In brief
Player ratingsNinety minutes of Marco Pašalić at his very best
Two goals and a mark of 8.84 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Antoine Griezmann 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 Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
A player who expected to start watched it instead. The manager will call it a decision for the team; Griffin Yow will call it something else in private.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Omer Torun on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
Martín Ojeda wins it after the whistle should have gone
119 minutes played. Martín Ojeda found the finish in time that only existed because of earlier delays, and San Diego Football Club went from a point to nothing inside one movement.
Successful dribbles: 27. 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 12 arrived, 0 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
The offer went to Real Salt Lake 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 deal that would have taken Justin Ellis to Houston Dynamo has collapsed at the last stage, and he reports back to Orlando City with a summer to forget and a season still to play. Nobody is saying which side walked away.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from San Jose Earthquakes for Jordan Farr 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.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Orlando City heard it as anything else.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $166.9K — a club that wants Duane Holmes enough to be asked twice.
The name of Justin Ellis has come up in conversations Orlando City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
Orlando City have gone to Houston Dynamo 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.
Orlando City offered $150.0K; San Diego Football Club 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
0‑3 against Inter Miami CF, and no complaints that would survive the replay. The manager spoke about character afterwards; the terraces used shorter words.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. FC Cincinnati have kept their man, and Orlando City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $178.0K — a club that wants Brian Romero enough to be asked twice.
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.
Charlotte Football Club wanted more than $160.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad24 Jul 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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.
Orlando City and FC Cincinnati have settled on $2.7M. 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.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $166.9K — a club that wants Aleksandr Guboglo enough to be asked twice.
$130.0K on the table at Charlotte Football Club. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
$150.0K was the most the club would pay and CF Montreal 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.
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 unglamorous genius of a well-written contract. Yutaro Tsukada is somebody else's player now, and $276.7K has arrived because the people who sold him thought further ahead than the transfer window.
In brief
Looking aheadThe leaders are next for Orlando City
$17.5M on the table at Seattle Sounders. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Antoine Griezmann provided it, and the 9.01 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
There were 86 minutes on the clock and DC United had all but banked the point. Football rarely reads the room, and Orlando City did not stop to explain themselves.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Orlando City 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.
David Brekalo 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.
Orlando City have gone to CF Montreal 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Ask anyone on the way out what separated the sides and you will get one name: Antoine Griezmann. 2‑1 against DC United, and the applause at the whistle was mostly his.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City 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 Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Something was said to Eduard Atuesta and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“We were not good enough today and I am not going to dress it up.” Omer Torun after 0‑2, in the tone of a man who knows the next question and does not intend to answer it.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Antoine Griezmann and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad26 Jun 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
Something was said to Griffin Yow and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“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.
The offer from Atletico Bucaramanga for Iván Angulo 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.
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.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
Squad19 Jun 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
The ambition story running backwards, and the one nobody tells: a footballer who wants a smaller ground, fewer cameras and a crowd that does not turn. It is not weakness and it is rarely reported as anything else.
At 17 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
Some afternoons a goalkeeper is the whole of the defence. 6 saves, several of them the kind nobody expects to see made, and ten outfield players who owe him a drink.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Orlando City heard it as anything else.
Squad12 Jun 2028
Griffin Yow 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.
Griffin Dorsey 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.
Something was said to Marco Pašalić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
Squad12 Jun 2028
The division's best last weekend was a Orlando City man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Antoine Griezmann was the best thing in any of them.
A 4‑1 win over Portland Timbers, a place in the next round, and the quiet arithmetic every supporter does on the walk home: how many more until a final?
There is an age at which every good afternoon gets described as a throwback, which is unfair and also accurate. 8.05 at 37, and nobody on the pitch was better.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Orlando City heard it as anything else.
4 straight away victories. Sides that win away are usually sides that can defend and can counter, and the table has begun to reflect what those journeys have earned.
Squad5 Jun 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
Marked 9.21 — 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.
Not a run of form — an actual step up, held for months. At 20 he is doing things at this level he could not do at the start of the season, and the coaching staff will tell you exactly which of them.
Maxime Crépeau 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.
Squad29 May 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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.
Match27 May 2028
Another one collected away from home
3 on the bounce on the road for Orlando City. The coaches leave early, arrive at unlovely grounds in the dark, and keep coming home with three points.
A mark of 7.86, and nobody in the ground would argue with it. He was involved in everything that mattered and most of what did not.
The dugout29 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We controlled it. There were spells I did not like and we will look at them, but the group showed me something.” Omer Torun, on a 1‑0 win that he was already picking apart on the walk to the press room.
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.
Zakaria Taifi 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.
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.
“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 dugout22 May 2028
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Omer Torun chose the glass-half-full version of 0‑0; the supporters left with the other one.
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.
A brace, and Martín Ojeda takes the afternoon — 8.76
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Martín Ojeda provided it, and the 8.76 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
3 wins in a row changes how opponents warm up: quieter, more glances across. Runs end, everybody knows that — but nobody in this dressing room is planning for it.
Antoine Griezmann 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 May 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
100 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
“I pick players who do the work. All of it.” No name was spoken; every camera still turned to Justin Ellis, and the manager let it.
Squad15 May 2028
7 new faces, and Orlando City are still learning each other
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.
The dugout15 May 2028
The manager’s verdict
“I am not going to get carried away and I will not let them either. It was a good day. There will be harder ones.” Omer Torun kept it short after the 2‑0 win, which is what managers do when they are happy.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
There is a particular warmth a ground reserves for a 21-year-old it feels ownership of. Justin Ellis has it now, and everything he does for the rest of his time here will be measured against the goodwill he was handed for free.
“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.
Squad8 May 2028
A place in the month's best eleven for Colin Guske
Four or five weekends of consistency, judged against everybody in the division doing his job. Colin Guske has come out of that comparison in the side, and Orlando City have had the benefit of every one of those afternoons.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“I listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Harvey Sarajian had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
A deal that was a phone call from completion at lunchtime was dead by midnight. Orlando City will try again when the window opens; Real Salt Lake may not be selling by then.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
2 goals inside twenty minutes with Antoine Griezmann in the middle of it, and New York Red Bulls unable to get near the ball long enough to change anything. Some matches are won before the first drink.
It has stopped being a mood in the stands and started being something organised. Boards can ignore a bad atmosphere for a long time; they cannot ignore this stage of it for very long at all.
Real Salt Lake have accepted the money. What Orlando City do not yet have is the man, and between here and the photograph is a conversation about wages that both sides are dreading.
Terms were offered and declined. Whether it was the wages, the role or the town, nobody at San Jose Earthquakes is saying, and nobody at Orlando City is enjoying the guessing.
Boardroom24 Apr 2028
Orlando City close the window on a squad of their own making
11 in and 0 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.
“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 Orlando City hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Eduard Atuesta wants continental football; whether Orlando City can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad24 Apr 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
Add another name to the list: LA Galaxy have asked the question everybody in the game has been asking about Harvey Sarajian. The answer from Orlando City has not changed — yet.
Griffin Dorsey 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. Martín Ojeda wants continental football; whether Orlando City can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $4.1M — a club that wants Dominik Marczuk enough to be asked twice.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Griffin Dorsey 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.
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.
The offer from San Jose Earthquakes for Harvey Sarajian 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.
Centre-halves are allowed forward twice a season and are judged on what they do when they get there. Iago scored, was marked 7.89, and got back before anybody noticed he had gone.
Maxime Crépeau 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.
He is 22 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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
Martín Ojeda 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“I was told straight, and I would rather have it straight.” The manager at Orlando City has been clear about where Iván Angulo stands, which is more than many ever get.
Squad3 Apr 2028
Justin Ellis is the division's best young player this month
At 20 he has spent a month being better than everybody his age in the league, which is a different and harder thing than one good afternoon. Orlando City will try very hard not to make too much of it.
The award is a small thing with a heavy meaning: for four weeks nobody in this division did his job better. Orlando City have the trophy on a shelf and the player in the side.
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.
The mood at Orlando City has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
$120.0K on the table at FC Cincinnati. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
Squad27 Mar 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Sebastian Soto trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
FC Cincinnati wanted more than $120.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Squad20 Mar 2028
Iván Angulo 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.
The board was up, the win was priced in, and then DC United scored. There is no worse minute to concede in and the ground emptied in the silence that follows one.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Omer Torun after the 2‑2 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
Squad20 Mar 2028
The division's best last weekend was a Orlando City man
It is a small honour and it is not nothing: somebody watched every match in the division and decided that Antoine Griezmann was the best thing in any of them.
At 20 he is being measured against the rest of the division's kids and coming out in front. The senior version of this award is where the club would like this to lead.
There is a particular kind of quiet from an away end watching one man score twice. Antoine Griezmann provided it, and the 8.22 beside his name is if anything generous to everybody else.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Orlando City heard it as anything else.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The offer went to FC Cincinnati 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.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
There comes a point where a club either backs its own ambition or admits it does not have any. Orlando City have paid $1.9M for Bryce Duke, which is the loudest way there is of saying which one it chose.
Orlando City have gone to Columbus Crew 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.
“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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Minnesota United FC have kept their man, and Orlando City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
Boardroom6 Mar 2028
5 academy players handed senior numbers at Orlando City
The morning the pathway stops being a brochure and becomes a team sheet. Most of them will not be here in three years; all of them have already done the hard part, which was getting to today.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The mood at Orlando City has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
$1.9M on the table at San Diego Football Club. The manager wanted him, the board agreed a number, and the only voices still to be heard are the ones at the other club.
New England Revolution did not want to sell and the number is why they did. $1.0M for Griffin Yow, and the expectation that arrives with him is the kind no amount of settling-in period softens.
The fee is $420.0K, the contract is signed, and the argument about whether he is worth it can begin. San Jose Earthquakes drove a hard bargain; time will say who won it.
San Diego Football Club wanted more than $620.0K and the board would not go there. Walked away, for now, which in a transfer window means until somebody blinks.
Griffin Dorsey 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.
Every shape has positions in it and this one does not have his. Orlando City will either change the shape, change his job, or change his club, and he is waiting to hear which.
He is 20, and nobody at Orlando City signed him for this season. Deals like this are judged in four years, by people who may not still be in the building.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Nashville SC have kept their man, and Orlando City 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The paperwork is done long before the player is. Michael Creek has agreed terms to come here when his current deal runs out, which means Orlando City have spent a summer's transfer budget on a phone call.
The registration window is open and the phone has started. Between now and the deadline this club will be linked with forty players and sign three, which is the usual ratio.
A new face in his position, and Antoine Griezmann suddenly has to win back what he thought he owned. Orlando City have promised nothing — clubs rarely do at this stage.
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
It is the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Martín Ojeda wants continental football; whether Orlando City can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
Squad14 Feb 2028
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Marco Pašalić
BoardroomThe Orlando City production line keeps running
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antoine Griezmann signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
The money the manager was told he had is now money the manager used to have. $7.4M, gone from the table without a statement, and a dressing room that understands what it means.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
SquadAiden Hezarkhani is training like a man with a point to make
79Edition
The Orlando City Herald
31 Jan 2028
From our football correspondentUneasy
The terraces31 Jan 2028
The mood at Orlando City has turned into something else
Supporters who sing when it goes badly are supporters. Supporters who gather afterwards are a problem, and everybody inside the building knows which of the two this now is.
Antoine Griezmann 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
Slavia Prague arrived with $25.3M and left with the best player in the building. The board will call it business; the queue at the ticket office will use other words.
Braian Ojeda has gone, the accounts have $25.3M in them, and the supporters have the feeling of having been sold something themselves. Good business and a good decision are not always the same thing.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Eduard Atuesta and Orlando City agree another 4 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
David Brekalo 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.
Squad24 Jan 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
“I have watched this squad. There is more in it than the table says.” First press conference, first promise — Omer Torun made the one every new manager makes, and now comes the part where it gets checked.
The name of Braian Ojeda has come up in conversations Orlando City were not part of. Nothing formal, nothing signed — but nothing about it accidental either.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Antoine Griezmann is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
“The easiest signature of my career.” Ricardo Dempsey and Orlando City agree another 3 years, and the manager can plan around him rather than about him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Erik Dueñas trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Day 40 of the vacancy. Candidates have been priced, sounded out and quietly ruled out — and the caretaker’s win ratio is becoming an argument all by itself.
Squad10 Jan 2028
Martín Ojeda 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.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Antoine Griezmann signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Iván Angulo trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Orlando City have no good answer.
Supporters organise against the Orlando City board
A bad atmosphere can be waited out. A group of people meeting afterwards to decide what to do about it cannot, and everybody in the building knows which stage this is.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Neil Pierre 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando 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 Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
Numbers do not stay secret in a dressing room. He is not asking for more than he is worth; he is asking why somebody beside him is worth more, and Orlando City have no good answer.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Zakaria Taifi signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
Antoine Griezmann 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 Dec 2027
Martín Ojeda 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.
“Thirty minutes, door closed, everything said. We shook hands after.” Whatever was in the room stayed in the room, and Braian Ojeda trained the next morning like a man with less to carry.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martín Ojeda signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
A season's verdict on David Vazquez: the best of his age
Orlando City have a 21-year-old the division has just voted its finest young footballer. The club's next problem is that everybody else now knows it too.
“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 Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
“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 Orlando City know it.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
Squad13 Dec 2027
Martín Ojeda 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.
In brief
BoardroomStill no name above the door at Orlando City
Four paragraphs on the club website, none of them about football. The board thanked him, wished him well, and had the search under way before the page went up.
“I am not thinking past Saturday, and I would advise nobody else to.” The caretaker’s first rule is to pretend the job is small; Matt Dempsey recited it perfectly.
“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.
Form comes and goes; this has not gone. David Vazquez is 21, and the version of him training now would not have got into the side he was in a year ago.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Neil Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The bill for the sacking has arrived. Dylan Dest leaves with $55.9K for the time left on his deal, and that money buys the club nothing it can put on the pitch.
The oldest phenomenon in the sport: a new voice in the dressing room and suddenly everybody is available for everything. Antoine Griezmann is training as though the last team sheet never existed, because as far as he is concerned it does not.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad29 Nov 2027
Martín Ojeda 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.
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.
The dugout29 Nov 2027
The manager has not finished forgetting David Brekalo'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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Erik Dueñas
SquadJustin Ellis has seen what the next man earns
“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.
Squad22 Nov 2027
Martín Ojeda 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.
Griffin Dorsey 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 had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando 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 Martín Ojeda signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Nobody at Orlando City 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.
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 Orlando City that is a harder question to answer.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager plants his flag on Braian Ojeda
David Brekalo 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 Neil Pierre 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 Owen Gene is on 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 Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
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.
“Things were said to me before I signed. I am not going to repeat them, but I remember all of them.” Orlando City have not answered, which is an answer of sorts.
Squad8 Nov 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
Neil Pierre 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.
4 call-ups is a compliment to the squad and a headache for the man running it. He will get them back in a fortnight, tired, in various states of repair.
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.
Every squad has men who were signed by a particular manager and men who were merely inherited. Maxime Crépeau is in the first group, and the man who wanted him here is no longer in the building.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Braian Ojeda signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
He trains hard, says the right things and goes home to an empty flat. Nobody at Orlando City has done anything wrong, which is exactly what makes it so difficult to fix.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City 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 Martín Ojeda was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
The dugout1 Nov 2027
David Brekalo 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.
A change in the dugout is not one story, it is twenty-five of them. This is Maxime Crépeau's: he was somebody's player, and now he has to be somebody else's, starting from nothing.
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 Justin Ellis is on it.
A year in and the city has not opened up, the language has not come, and lunch is eaten alone more often than anybody at Orlando City would admit. It shows on Saturdays.
“I have done everything asked of me in training and it has not changed a thing on a Saturday.” The most familiar complaint in football, and one Orlando City will have to answer with minutes or with a transfer.
Antoine Griezmann 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 Neil Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Martín Ojeda signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
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.
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 Orlando City that is a harder question to answer.
David Brekalo 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.
Squad18 Oct 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
3 matches, no goals, and a training ground that has tried everything. It will end — droughts always do — but nobody at Orlando City can tell you which week it ends in.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Dylan Dest after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
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 Owen Gene is on it.
“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 the most legitimate ambition in the sport and the hardest for most clubs to satisfy. Eduard Atuesta wants continental football; whether Orlando City can provide it is a question about the next two seasons, not about him.
“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 Orlando City know it.
Braian Ojeda and a teammate went at it, and not about football. Training grounds are small places and a long season makes them smaller.
Squad11 Oct 2027
Martín Ojeda 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 at Orlando City 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 has been denied twice and printed three times, which is the usual arithmetic. Until Braian Ojeda signs something — a contract at Orlando City or anywhere else — this column belongs to him.
Every squad has one of these fixtures for somebody every season. This one is Griffin Dorsey’s: the club that knew him first, the supporters who will decide in the first minute whether to applaud, and Orlando City needing him to play as if none of it matters.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Neil Pierre was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
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.
“The supporters are entitled to be angry. So am I. We will put it right.” 0‑2, a manager saying the necessary things, and a dressing room that heard a different version of them.
David Brekalo 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.
Squad27 Sep 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
He found out with everybody else, an hour before kick-off, from a sheet of paper on a wall. Nobody at Orlando City pretended it was anything other than a decision about him.
“It had gone on long enough. I would rather have it out than leave it sitting there.” Ten minutes behind a closed door at Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
In brief
BoardroomOrlando City bank $430.0K from an old deal
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.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Squad20 Sep 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
Erik Dueñas 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.
“There is a gap, and pretending there is not helps nobody.” Neither side has moved, and the calendar is working for exactly one of them.
The dugout20 Sep 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Dylan Dest left the room before anybody could ask which.
Something was said to Marco Pašalić and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
“I did not go to Austin FC to sit and watch. I want to come back to Orlando City and fight for my place.” 4 appearances in 25 matches say the rest.
Squad13 Sep 2027
Neil Pierre 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.
Something was said to Griffin Dorsey and then it happened. In this industry that passes for remarkable, and the dressing room noticed faster than any supporter could.
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 Martín Ojeda is on it.
“A point is a point and I will take it, but we should have had all three.” Dylan Dest after the 0‑0 draw, and the sentence every manager in the country said at some stage this weekend.
“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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Squad6 Sep 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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.
Nobody at Orlando City 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.
He used to be one of the options. He is now one of the men the options are picked around, and the change happened quietly enough that only the dressing room noticed on the day.
He asked about his future and was given an answer with minutes in it. The manager has now made a promise in a building where promises are remembered, and the clock on it has started.
At 19 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
David Brekalo 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 Aug 2027
Martín Ojeda 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.
200 games in this shirt, through managers and relegations and everything else. Service like it is disappearing from the game and the crowd knows what it is watching.
A point taken on 89 minutes is worth exactly one point and considerably more than that to a dressing room. This side does not stop, which is a reputation worth more than the result.
It finished 1‑1, and it somehow always looked like it would. One of those afternoons where the table moves less than the tempers.
The dugout30 Aug 2027
The view from the dugout
“We did not lose. Some weeks that is all you get, and I would rather have the point than not.” Dylan Dest chose the glass-half-full version of 1‑1; the supporters left with the other one.
In brief
The dugoutJustin Ellis dropped after a run of poor form
“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 Orlando City hears a sentence like that exactly as it was built.
Braian Ojeda 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.
FC Cincinnati left with the points after a 0‑1 defeat that will take some explaining on the terraces.
Squad23 Aug 2027
Neil Pierre 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.
“I never wanted to be anywhere else. There is unfinished business here.” Justin Ellis commits to Orlando City for another 5 years.
The dugout23 Aug 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 0‑1 Dylan Dest left the room before anybody could ask which.
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 Owen Gene is on 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 Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
Two goals and a mark of 8.58 to go with them. Strikers are judged on afternoons like this one and remembered for far fewer of them than people imagine.
Orlando City ran out of time with New England Revolution. The paperwork was open when the deadline passed, and a transfer that was almost done is now a transfer that never happened.
Squad16 Aug 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
Orlando City asked and Sporting Kansas City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“I watch every Orlando City game from here. That says everything about where my head is.” The loan at Austin FC runs its course, but his heart never made the trip.
“The players deserve the credit. My job was easy today.” It was not, and everybody in the room knew it; after 2‑0, Dylan Dest could afford to be generous.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
Orlando City and New England Revolution have settled on $2.6M. 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.
The deadline has passed and the squad is the squad. 13 arrived, 10 left, and everything else printed about this club last month was a rumour that stayed one.
It is not a grievance and it is not a demand: he wants to play continental football, and he has stopped hiding it. Whether Orlando City can give him that is a question about the club, not about him.
The number the board signed off was not enough. It has been asked again and raised its own offer to $2.8M — a club that wants Griffin Yow enough to be asked twice.
“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; Orlando City are dealing with a man who wants a different country.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
In brief
Player ratingsA hand in 2 of them from Martín Ojeda — 7.94
SquadMartín Ojeda falls out with a teammate over standards
“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 Orlando City, and it is not being withdrawn.
The offer from Los Angeles Football Club for Maxime Crépeau 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.
Orlando City asked and New York City said no without discussing a figure. It is the least ambiguous answer in football and the one clubs most often come back to test.
“Some decisions take a long time. This one took ten minutes, and most of that was finding a pen.” DeAndre McKennie and Orlando City agree another 5 years.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Zakaria Taifi is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
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 7.63 for the rest of it.
Antoine Griezmann 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.
Squad26 Jul 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Martín Ojeda 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 approach was made and the answer came back in a sentence. There is no number on the table because there was no number that would have been enough.
Player ratings26 Jul 2027
Braian Ojeda was on a different afternoon to everybody else
8.02. There are performances a supporter describes to somebody who was not there and cannot quite convey; this was one, and the number does not help either.
Marked 8.01 — 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.
A loan enquiry to Vancouver Whitecaps: cover, or a look at somebody the club cannot afford to buy yet. Either way the answer will come back inside the week.
St. Louis CITY SC paid $1.5M and Orlando City took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
New York Red Bulls paid $1.1M and Orlando City took it, which is the whole story in one sentence. The longer version involves a wage budget and will be told all season.
Squad19 Jul 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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.
Not now, not at any price the club was prepared to say out loud. Minnesota United FC have kept their man, and Orlando City go back to a list with one name crossed off it.
“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 Orlando City, and 4 appearances in 17 say he has earned the hearing.
“I have nothing bad to say about this place. I just need to be somewhere else.” It is in writing now, which changes what Orlando City can pretend not to have heard.
Fee agreed, wages agreed, and Los Angeles Football Club waiting with a shirt. Nobody at Orlando City is pretending otherwise, and the supporters have stopped asking whether and started asking when.
Marked 8.16 — 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.
Every long career reaches the week the player starts thinking about the last one. He would like it to be at the club that first put him on a pitch, and Orlando City now know that too.
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 midfielder is measured on whether the team functions when he is on the pitch, which is nearly impossible to see and completely obvious in retrospect. 13 actions, 7.33, and a manager who will not be substituting him again in a hurry.
Joran Gerbet 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 dugout5 Jul 2027
The manager’s verdict
“That is on me. I pick the team and I picked wrong.” Managers say that when they mean it and when they need to be seen to, and after 1‑2 Dylan Dest left the room before anybody could ask which.
7 arrivals, an average age nobody would call a squad, and a set of parents being shown around a building their sons will spend more time in than at home. The scouting has already happened; today is only the paperwork.
A month is long enough that nobody gets in by accident. Marco Pašalić is in the division's best eleven for it, which is a quieter compliment than an award and a more reliable one.
3 goals to the good, and then a slow surrender of everything that had been earned. Antoine Griezmann will not be the one blamed for it, but nobody at Orlando City escapes the conversation that follows a collapse like this.
At 21 he is doing things this season that he could not do last season, and doing them every week. Form comes and goes; this has stayed long enough to be called something else.
Somebody said out loud what several people thought about how hard another man trains, and Eduard Atuesta was in the middle of it. The one dressing-room argument that is genuinely about football.
It needed Antoine Griezmann to find the net to bring anything home at all: 3‑3 against Nashville SC, and half the dressing room will call it a point won.
Zakaria Taifi 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 listened, I thought about it, and I am staying. That is the whole story.” The clubs had agreed a fee. Martín Ojeda had not agreed to go, which turned out to be the part that mattered.
It was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando City this week that will take longer than a week to unsay.
“We earned that. I asked them for a reaction and I got one, and now I want the same again on Saturday.” Dylan Dest on a 2‑1 afternoon that pleased him more than he was prepared to show.
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 Robin Jansson is on it.
The interest is real enough to have reached print. Orlando City have said nothing, which in a transfer window is its own kind of answer.
Squad14 Jun 2027
Words at Orlando City training over how hard people work
Somebody said out loud what several people had been thinking. Eduard Atuesta 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 was not about football and everybody who saw it knows that. Two men who have to play together on Saturday said things at Orlando 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 Orlando City, and both men came out saying it was fine.
“There are things I liked and things we will be doing on Tuesday until they are right.” 0‑0, and a manager who had already decided what Tuesday looked like.
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.
Nobody at Orlando City 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.
San Diego Football Club are out and Orlando City go through, 2‑0 the final word. The bracket opens up a little, and everyone allows themselves a look at it.
“I want to be playing for trophies while my legs still let me.” Nothing in that sentence is a transfer request, and nobody at Orlando City heard it as anything else.
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.
Antoine Griezmann 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 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 Orlando City 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.
He is 21 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.
In brief
The dugoutThe manager makes an example of Maxime Crépeau