Team	Opponent	Score	Year
Everton	Huddersfield	2-0	2017
Crystal Palace	Watford	1-1	2016
England	Slovakia	1-0	2016
Sunderland	West Brom	0-1	2015
Blackburn	Stoke	3-0	2008
Newcastle	Bolton	3-1	2007
Total	4-1-1	10-3

Team	Total	Long Ball %	Short Acc.	Long Acc.
Villa	389.5	15.5%	83.9%	44.3%
West Brom	381.6	15.1%	82.8%	42.9%

Team	Off.	Mid.	Def.
Villa	33%	41%	26%
WBA	24%	45%	31%

The year is 2017. Top scientists have finally cracked the ability to stop ageing, and the world rejoices. The discovery prompts an immediate FIFA investigation into exactly what this means for world football from now on. How will the careers come and go when every team can just preserve their best stars? How will the next Messi break through? The Qatar FA suggest restricting it to only Qatari players, a motion that's only narrowly defeated. In unrelated news, a bunch of mysterious Qatari bank accounts are seized the day before the vote. Eventually, a compromise is decided upon between. Only those players who’ve proven themselves to be in it for the sport, and their team, can use it. The players who have stuck with their team through thick and thin, who’ve turned down bigger money offers to stay where they are. One-Club Men. However, should their loyalty ever waiver, and they choose to leave, those players will lose their right to an everlasting career, and have to face the advance years once again. Who will remain loyal the longest? Who will ride out the lowest of lows to stay at their lifelong club?
Unfortunately for those of you hoping I’ve found a secret miracle, that’s just the best nonsense I could come up with to frame this scenario. In less dramatic terms, using FM 2017, I'm going to select 50 one-club men from the top 5 leagues and de-age them to around 22. Every 5 years I'll de-age them down to 22 again, unless they abandon their loyalty. I'll also be adjusting everyone's contract to expire in 2020 to make it equal, and undoing international retirements where necessary. Nothing overly complicated, but I’m expecting this one to run a long long time if I’m going to have everyone leave, so I’m good with it not being too complicated.
^Reddit ^side ^note! ^It's ^me ^again. ^Some ^may ^remember ^my ^experiments ^from ^ages ^ago. ^I'm ^back ^and ^writing ^again, ^but ^as ^you ^can ^probably ^tell, ^with ^a ^new ^name ^and ^website. ^If ^you ^want ^to ^see ^this ^post ^with ^much ^better ^formatting, ^all ^the ^images, ^and ^everyone's ^profile ^at ^the ^end, ^go ^here ^to ^read ^it ⁱⁿ ^full: ^link ^You ^can ^stay ^here ^if ^you ^prefer ^though!
So who actually qualifies for this? I've restricted it to players from the Top 5 leagues of England, Italy, Spain, Germany and France, and only included those that have been at their clubs the longest. As well as the genuine candidates like Messi and Totti, loaned out players like Lahm qualify, as do those like Iniesta who haven't left in FM 2017, and even those that have left in-game, but are known for their careers at one club. Buffon is a good example of the latter. I've included a link to an image with all 5 players here: link
With all this loyalty around, I wanted to mix it up a bit by adding in one final player. Someone completely opposite to everyone picked so far, the anti-one-club man, the journeyman of all journeymen. And after some research, I came up with the perfect candidate. Sebastián Abreu, a man who in his career has played at an impressive 29 different teams in 11 different countries, setting a Guinness world record along the way. Abreu will receive the same treatment as the loyal players, except it won’t stop when he moves team. I want him to move around more, spread his wings, see how many teams he can collect over an illustrious career.
That’s enough explaining for now. Should be pretty clear what’s going on, just a bunch of footballers never getting old. Time to get things rolling and see who eliminates themselves. Who can stick it out the longest, who will become THE one-club man?

2016/17

With our younger one club men unleashed on the world, many of them attract instant attention from new clubs. For a while it stays quiet and looks like the first transfer window may pass without incident. Only a few loans crop up... until Javi López because the first man to fall. With Espanyol not meeting his standards, he makes a £2.4M trip down the coast to join Valencia. He proves to be the only summer casualty by the time the window slams shut.
January brings the winter window, and the Premier League clubs start to sniff around, ready to throw bags of cash at unsuspecting players. It doesn’t take long before the next two players are reeled in by money and lose their eternal youth. First Marcel Schmelzer in a £20.5M move to Liverpool, followed by Bruno joining moneybags Man City. By the end of the window, Nacho also heads to the north of England, joining rivals Man United. I’m not sure if any of them have realised how damn cold it is up there. That window swiftly ends, settling the bottom 4 finishers in the competition.
Returning to the world of actual football results briefly, and there aren’t many shocks to be seen. Man City finish 6th, Everton get relegated and Borussia Mönchengladbach reach the Champions League Semi-Finals. A few players see their team relegated, as Werder Bremen, Caen and Freiburg go down, so there could be a few casualties once that disappointment has set in. But all in all, the footballing world has coped just fine.
Loyal Players Remaining: 46
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2017/18

With everyone’s transfer budgets warmed up, it doesn’t take long for the action to get back underway. The previous season has barely finished before Chris Solly trades in his morals for a Premier League move to Norwich. Sergio Álvarez joins him in England, making the slightly odd move to Bournemouth before a big £52M move sees Koke trade loyalty for a big move to Man City. That’s the most surprising move so far, as I expected many of the players at top clubs to stick around. The final two transfers of the window take us to sunny Spain, where both Xabi Prieto and Mario become massive glory hunters, trading in their life long clubs for Atletico Madrid and Barcelona respectively. Javi López, having left Espanyol to join Valencia last year, immediately realises his mistake and rejoins Espanyol. It’s too little too late though, his status as a one-club man is already ruined.
The winter window comes and goes without even a hint of action, so things may already be starting to quieten down. Over in Brazil, Sebastián Abreu has his contract with Bangu come to an end after a good season but fails to attract any new suitors before the European season ends.
Around the world, things keep ticking on relatively normally. Watford take a surprising FA Cup win despite finishing rock bottom of the league, meaning they’ll have European nights alongside their Championship campaign. The loyalty of Seube, Höfler and Bargfrede is rewarded, as Caen, Bremen and Freiburg are immediately promoted back to the top tier. Las Palmas head in the opposite direction, which causes David García to hand in an immediate transfer request. The Spaniard could very well be the next player to go.
Loyal Players Remaining: 41
Abreu Club Count: 23 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Watford (FA Cup)

2018/19

My suggestion that things may be quietening down is immediately disproved by the biggest move so far. Bayern Munich legend Philipp Lahm makes a huge £82M transfer to Manchester City, throwing away all he’d built up at Bayern so far. But it doesn't end there, as 2 more huge transfers are finalised right after. First Claudio Marchisio drops Juventus, clearly not happy with them losing the title to AC Milan, and moves to Real Madrid. Then Daniele De Rossi trades in Roma for Barcelona. Whilst both have moved in real life, I didn’t expect either to fall so early in this, being icons at such huge clubs. A little later, David García makes his predicted move away from relegated Las Palmas, opting to stay in Spain with Osasuna. And then on the final day of the window, one last move. David Zurutuza decides the Premier League is more to his taste and joins Noble at West Ham. Javi López continues his tour of Spain, realising rejoining Espanyol doesn’t earn him back everlasting youth, and so heads to Sevilla instead. Currently, he’s moved around more than the specific journeyman player I chose to actually move around. Talking of, Abreu does find a new contract, heading back to Uruguay to join River Plate Montevideo.
The winter transfer window is again mostly quiet, with very little potential action. There are still some transfers though, as Robin Knoche becomes the 15th person out, heading to Borussia Dortmund. Then a legend moves on, as Iker Casillas decides that barely getting any game time behind Keylor Navas isn’t worth it, and so joins Monaco for a mere £11M. I guess you can't escape the real world after all.
The summer of 2018 means a World Cup, a tournament which regularly creates bizarre results in Football Manager. This year is no exception, as the likes of Italy, Belgium and Argentina fall in the group stages, before South Korea beat both Germany and France in the knockouts. The final between Brazil and Croatia proves 100% less heartbreaking than the real 2018 final for the Croatians, as they become champions of the world. In domestic football, Man United take all the English trophies on offer in a Quadruple, whilst Freiburg find themselves relegated yet again, as do Montpellier.
Loyal Players Remaining: 34
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Croatia (World Cup)

2019/20

Another season, another transfer window, another set of swirling rumours around our one-club men. Borussia Dortmund manage to steal away another of our competitors from a German rival, taking Timo Horn early in the window. Having been relegated yet again last season, Nicolas Höfler decides enough is enough and leaves Freiburg for Hertha Berlin. Over in Italy, and Chievo Legend Sergio Pellissier finally caves, leaving his relegation-threatened lifelong team for European battlers Fiorentina. But that's all the entertainment I can offer, no big signings this time around I’m afraid. Let's go see what Javi López is up to instead. His merry-go-round of clubs continues yet again, moving over to Deportivo de La Coruña in the latest of his ever-decreasing value of transfers.
January retains its typical bleak and dull atmosphere, with no sign of action whatsoever until the final day of the window. Hugo Mallo decides to try and add to his trophy cabinet and heads to Man United. Not the worst career move to throw away eternal life for considering their dominance right now. And with his departure, the total number of players that we've lost hits a nice round 20.
In the Premier League, Man United claim their 4th title in a row, exerting total dominance over everyone. But where one dominance rises, another falls, with Dortmund claiming the Bundesliga to knock Bayern off their perch. The shock of the season comes in the Coupe de France, where 3rd tier LB Châteauroux knock out Lyon, Auxerre and PSG before falling to Caen in the semi-finals. With Monaco having fallen to 4th tier SA Spinalien, Caen beat an easier opposition of RC Lens in the final, leading to Seube lifting the teams first-ever Coupe de France. Not bad for a player I expected to never lift a trophy. On a less joyous note, Höfler having left relegated Freiburg, sees his new team Hertha relegated immediately too. It seems there is no escaping the 2. Bundesliga!
On the record front, Gianluigi Buffon sets a huge benchmark, breaking the 200 cap mark for Italy. With no-one else close to him, he’ll stay the leader for a long time. Messi also breaks a boundary, climbing through 400 league goals during his career at Barcelona. Like Buffon, he’s way clear of any competitor, and unless a miracle happens that sees him abandon Barcelona, I can’t see anyone catching him soon.
Loyal Players Remaining: 30
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Caen (Coupe de France)

2020/21

2020 arrives, and with it, two important points arrive too. Firstly, everyone gets de-aged for the first time in this experiment. The 20 that have left get to watch from a distance thinking about what could have been. Second, the initial contracts are set to expire, so anyone that hasn’t re-signed will out the door. Which is exactly what happens to Víctor Valdés. Having barely appeared for Barcelona since his return, he leaves the club on a free and heads to the southern French coast to join Marseille. A day later and someone else leaves France, as Romain Danzé who decides one de-ageing is enough and moves to Schalke. Tony Hibbert also struggled for games at Everton despite his new youthful look, and so he walks out the door. He opts for Aston Villa, who to my great surprise have sunk to a mid-table League 1 team. Feeling left out, Spain joins in, with Oier Sanjurjo departing Osasuna and moving to Villarreal. The window is then capped by a bizarre final free transfer. Despite appearing regularly, Xavi isn’t offered a new contract by Barcelona. Man City can’t quite believe their luck and snap up the Spanish wizard a few days before the window shuts.
Winter brings with it just one transfer in its usual action-heavy way. Roberto Torres leaves Osasuna, making a £35.5M switch to Atletico. I’m not sure whether Atletico thought they were getting a different de-aged Torres because that can only be described as an overpayment. Either way, that means we've now lost over half the competitors.
Euro 2020 passes, and Croatia prove their World Cup victory was no fluke, becoming both champions of the World, and champions of Europe. On the Continental front, things have been fairly predictable so far, at least until this years Europa League. Hoffenheim escape a tough group and go all the way to win the entire thing. Not bad for a team that barely qualified in the first place. Oh, and Messi wins a little thing called the Ballon d’Or for the 10th time. I think he’s only just getting started.
Loyal Players Remaining: 24
Abreu Club Count: 24 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Hoffenheim (Europa League)

2021/22

The 21/22 season begins with two transfers on the first day. Loïc Perrin makes his way to the Premier League to join Leicester. But that's a minor splash compared to the other move, as after 768 appearances and 302 goals, Francesco Totti leaves Roma. It seems wrong to see it, but he’ll now be wearing a Man United kit. Dortmund continue their run of stealing loyalty, this time bringing Tony Jantschke into the fold. Another contract is run to the end, forcing Álex Bergantiños out of Deportivo without much choice, before being picked up by Cagliari. Mikel González opts to end his time at Real Sociedad, joining Pellissier over at Fiorentina. And as August comes to a close, it looks like Totti may be the only big departure. That is until Gianluigi Buffon decides to call time on his Juventus career. It’s an odd move, with the legend going sorta sideways from a regular starting Juventus spot to Bayern Munich. But there’s no going back now, as his 636 league appearance career with the Italians comes to a close. Two legends down in one window.
No season is complete without a single winter signing to warrant an entire separate paragraph, and this season is no different. Sergi Roberto moves away from Barcelona, in a £24M move to French giants PSG. A good way to guarantee yourself plenty of titles I guess. Abreu also makes a winter move, adding Guarani in the Brasilian second tier to his collection.
Roberto’s decision proves to be a good one, as PSG go on to claim their 10th one in a row. Not many surprises elsewhere, although Real Oviedo get close to pulling off a shock in the Copa del Rey. The second tier team beat Osasuna, Barcelona and Sevilla on the way to the final, but ultimately Real Madrid prove a step too far. Elsewhere everything is won by a team you’d probably expect. Exciting stuff.
Loyal Players Remaining: 17
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2022/23

With the pool of players rapidly decreasing, very few of the crew are even wanted by other clubs anymore. Perhaps deterred by their steadfast loyalty? A few moves do still happen though, so we’re not dead yet. Firstly Anthony Lopes gets fed up of PSG dominating his league and moves to AC Milan for a better shot at a trophy. It’s not long before that story is forgotten, as the biggest transfer fee in the competition so far is dropped. Andrés Iniesta is stolen away from Barcelona, in a huge £86M move to Man United. The midfield maestro fell 2 appearances short of 600 league games for Barcelona, but with his new £300K per-week contract it’s not hard to guess why. That proves to be all the action for the summer window, with no-one willing to top that huge move.
After half a season of hearing their noisy neighbours gloating about their star signing, Man City snap. And if there’s one thing City are good at, it’s splashing the cash. In probably the easiest negotiation over fee Barcelona has ever had, Sergio Busquets makes a £95M move to the sky blues. Yeh, that’ll show United. Once again no-one wants to get in the middle of the awkward Manchester squabble, and the winter transfer closes with a whimper.
The second World Cup of this experiment comes and goes. This time all the giants make it safely through the Group Stages, but it’s Africa that really excels. Morocco make the knockouts, Egypt battle through to the Quarter Finals, but Nigeria come out best. They beat South Korea and Argentina before falling valiantly to France in the Semi-Finals. A 1-0 victory of Italy does see them finish in an impressive 3rd place, becoming the first African team to finish in the top 3 of the World Cup. France win the title on penalties after a deceivingly action-filled 0-0 draw with Spain. The domestic scene follows that with a similar lack of real shocks. In the Carabao Cup, Bournemouth beat Arsenal, Chelsea and Man United on the way to lifting the trophy. But it’s the lesser Cup, so outside of Bournemouth no-one really cares. PSG finally have their grip on the Ligue 1 broken, as Casillas leads Monaco to a fantastic title. Otherwise, all the league titles and cups fall to teams you’d expect them too. Another thrilling year.
Loyal Players Remaining: 14
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Bournemouth (Carabao Cup)

2023/24

Literally nothing happens. Thomas Kessler decides that no team can ignore his existence for 20 seasons in a row and get away with it, leaving Köln to join Trabzonspor. So as I said, literally nothing happens. Even Javi López moving to yet another club would be more interesting than that.
The same applies to the footballing season. Asides from Casillas captaining Monaco to a Champions League title, or Atletico winning the title again, exactly 10 years after their last win, everything is frustratingly normal. And even those two events are hardly shocks.
Before I start to lose hope, there are a few interesting moves over the last few years from the losing group that are worth highlighting. First season mover Bruno didn’t make the impact he hoped and found himself moving to the lovely Stoke. Robin Knoche barely received any playtime at Dortmund and found himself cast out to Dinamo Zagreb. Even in League 1, Tony Hibbert could barely get any game time at Villa and so moved on the Scunthorpe in League 2. But the winner of the oddest move has to be Zurutuza, who somehow manage to pull off a move to Liverpool after West Ham found themselves relegated, only make a few disappointing performances, before being released on a free to join Al-Arabi in Qatar. Not quite the career he was anticipating when joining the Premier League I bet.
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: None

2024/25

The summer transfer window arrives for another season, and with it finally comes a huge deal! Javi López has found yet another club! Hooray! As for actual competitors, absolutely no movement whatsoever. Even from Abreu, who’s been at Guarani for 2.5 years now. Manceau, Lewington and Seube complain to their managers about playing time or relegation, but none of them actually make a move anywhere. So our final 13 will add another 5 years onto their career length.
There are some fun statistics from our 51 worth mentioning at this point. Buffon leads the way with both total league appearances (935) and international caps (259). His caps are at a point where they’re too high for the game to display, as the value is stored as an unsigned 8-bit integer, and so has rolled over to just show 3. Most appearances for a single club goes to Dean Lewington however, who thanks to being a regular sits at 857 league appearances for the MK Dons (or 889 if you include Wimbledon). In the goals department, the winner is obvious. With almost 500 league goals, 100 international goals and 14 Ballon d’Or awards, Messi sits on top of everyone. On the international scene, he’s run close by Müller and the fast-approaching Kane, but for league goals, it’s not even close.
2024 brings with it a Euro tournament, which doesn’t provide much in the way of surprises, but brings with it some exciting high scoring matches. All ending in a 4-3 victory for a Thomas Müller led Germany over neighbours Netherlands. Which I’m sure went down very well. The domestic scene decides to spring a few shocks though. In Serie A, Roma claim an impressive title thanks to main striker Iheanacho, their first since 2001. The German and French cups provide surprise winners, in the form of Hertha Berlin and Dijon. Both cap an impressive run by beating their respective league winners, Bayern and Monaco. Even the continental tournaments turn up too. First Monaco cement their place as a top power in football by winning their second Champions League in a row. That coming a week after the best win there could possibly be. Tottenham win the Europa League! Screw the other stuff, that last part is all I need!
Loyal Players Remaining: 13
Abreu Club Count: 25 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Dijon (Coupe de France), Hertha Berlin (DFB Pokal)

At this point though it’s fair to say that the competition results are more interesting than the movements of the players. Which is the perfect signal that things need to speed up a little bit. So from now on, updates will be every 5 years, which lines up perfectly with player age resets, letting us see who has made it to the next checkpoint.

2025-2030

Another round of de-ageing hits, and you’d think that would incite some interest in our final 13. Instead, it’s a ghost town. We do have an immediate dropout though, as Nicolas Seube finally gets fed up with his lack of playtime at Caen and heads for Panionios in Greece. A year later the situation is repeated. I’m not entirely sure what his unhappiness was about, but Iker Muniain decides he’s had enough of Athletic Club and moves to Hamburger SV. At least he left on exactly 100 goals for Athletic though, a nice round number. With 11 left, a standoff to reach the top 10 ensues. For 3 years no-one budges in their show of loyalty, until in 2029… Dean Lewington leaves for Derby County on a free. It’s a huge move, with Lewington becoming the first man to break through 1000 league appearances for a single club before leaving. But he’s moved on now, and it won’t be long before that record is broken. That move means we’re left with our final 10 contestants. Terry, Iraola, Messi, Susaeta, Noble, Jourdren, Müller, Kane, Manceau and Bargfrede have secured a top 10 spot, and now all that’s left to do is fight it out for number 1.
Over in Brazil, our anti-one-club man continues his journey, although it remains in Brazil for the moment. Only 2 clubs are added to his count, with a long stay at Atletico Goianiense followed by a £2M move to top tier Coritiba. I’m kind of hoping he starts to make enough waves in the Brazilian league to move to Europe and add some new countries to his history.
Those that fell before the first de-ageing are retiring, finishing off their magnificent, or in some cases very un-magnificent, careers (as losers). Javi López finishes his fine anti-loyalty tour around Spain with 7 transfers to his name. Schmelzer, Nacho, Solly, Álvarez, Koke, Mario, Prieto, Marchisio, De Rossi, David García, Zurutuza, Knoche, Höfler, Pellissier, Mallo, Horn and Hibbert end their careers. Many, such as Nacho, Horn and De Rossi stay just as committed to their new clubs as they did their old, finishing out their careers after just a single transfer. Of the pensioners, Sergio Pellissier manages to rack up the most career league appearances and goals, at 894 and 246, although that’s largely thanks to a huge head start. De Rossi dominates on the international scene, earning a whopping 197 caps over his 30-year career. Naturally, all those records will be blown out the water once the next group start retiring, but it’s nice to have some benchmarks.
Around the world, plenty has gone on worth hearing about. The Netherlands claim their first-ever World Cup win, beating Brazil in the final, whilst in the Euro’s Germany win their second tournament in a row. The Gold Cup throws up a few interesting results too, as first, the Mexico B team win it, with their A team tied up in the Confederations Cup. Then 4 years later Canada take the title, only the second time in their history. Over in Italy, Lazio find themselves relegated as the league starts to shake itself up a bit. But other than that, domestic football remains relatively unspectacular. Oh except… TOTTENHAM WINNING THE LEAGUE. Didn’t even have to reset it and we won it before Arsenal did. North London is very much Lilywhite now, suck it Gooners!
Loyal Players Remaining: 10
Abreu Club Count: 27 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Tottenham (Premier League)

2030-2035

Another 5 years pass and to start with it looks like the top 10 are going to hold firm. Eventually though, the temptation of money proves too much for one man. That man is Geoffrey Jourdren who trades in his starting slot at Montpellier for a cosy backup contract at PSG. Then comes… dead silence. Not even a rumour, or an unhappy player. No-one even hints at leaving for the next 4 years, which means we end the period with nine players on the books. The real waiting game has begun. Even our journeyman Abreu is moving in a very slow way, as a five year Coritiba stint finishes with a free transfer to Red Bull Brasil. I think my hopes for a European move have died.
At least there are a lot of retirements to run through. Bruno, Lahm, Casillas, Valdés, Danzé, Oier, Xavi, Torres, Perrin, Jantschke, Bergantiños, González, Roberto, Iniesta and Busquets hang up their playing boots. That does leave us without some noted legends, with Lahm, Casillas, Iniesta and Busquets reaching 200 caps for their country. You’d think Spain would have won more with that golden generation. Casillas and Xavi also both hit 1000 league appearances thanks to a strong head start before the experiment. But it’s Andrés Iniesta who is the most loyal of the bunch, racking up nearly 600 appearances for his original club before departing.
Five years leaves plenty of time for interesting results once again. England take a World Cup win, which is always a sign of the apocalypse, only made more bizarre by Scotland making the semi-finals in the same competition. Portugal take the other title in that period, whilst the Euros also see a surprise winner in Switzerland. France provides the biggest shock at club level, as Lille come from nowhere to win Ligue 1, and then immediately revert back to mid-table once again. Otherwise, the time belongs to Manchester City. The oil bar… sky blues take 4 out of 5 titles in both the Premier League and Champions League, with all that cash flinging finally paying off.
Loyal Players Remaining: 9
Abreu Club Count: 28 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: England (World Cup), Lille (Ligue 1)

2035-40

With just nine players left, once again we get a transfer fairly early on in the period. Early as in the first transfer window, which makes me wonder why they waited so long. Anyway, Mark Noble has had his patience tested by West Ham’s yoyoing between the Premier League and Championship a bit too much and finally caves. He makes a £20M move to Burnley, who… are doing the exact same thing. Not sure that was the brightest idea. Like the previous 5 years though, one transfer is all we get. None of the others move, despite some pretty heavy unhappiness from Bargfrede and Manceau. Abreu keeps up his trail, running out his contract with Red Bull Brasil and opting for Chapecoense to reach 29 clubs in his career.
With very few moving recently, that also means less and less are retiring, as just 7 ex-competitors leave the game. Totti, Buffon, Lopes, Kessler, Seube, Muniain and Lewington call time on their football life. The fact they all stuck with it for so long means there’s so impressive stats between them. Totti racked up 1154 league appearances, with 768 at Roma. Dean Lewington, after leaving MK Dons with 1003 appearances finished with a total of 1287. Italian legend Gianluigi Buffon finished with a whopping 1307 league appearances, but perhaps more impressively, 334 international caps. But the single most surprising statistic goes to Thomas Kessler. Despite barely playing in Germany he manages to notch a grand total of 7 goals after his move to Turkey. Maybe if he’d been a striker he’d have actually played at Koln. Oh and Seube ends his career Greek. Because why not.
As per every time, a quick look around the world’s results is needed. Spain win back the World Cup titles, whilst Italy take a Euro win. Argentina, Mexico and Australia claim all their continents international trophies in the window, so no massive surprises there. The domestic world isn’t exactly littered with shocks either. Brescia win a Coppa Italia, and Nîmes Olympique grab 4 top 5 finishes in a row in France, but there’s not really much to shout about. I think it’s best to just get on with the next de-ageing.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 29 clubs in 10 countries
Odd Winners: Brescia (Coppa Italia)

2040-45

Down to 8 now, so it’s getting tougher. And a lot slower, so slow in fact that not a single transfer in our group happens in five years. For a moment I was excited to see Manceau at Recreativo de Huelva, but that was just a loan. So I was back to being crushed. On the plus side, Abreu makes some huge steps. He adds not just 1, but 2 new countries to his history! The first is Portugal, in a huge step up to join Braga. As usual, it’s just until his contract ends, before he moves on to Frankfurt in the Bundesliga. He’s hardly setting Europe alight but I don’t care, he’s actually moving!
There’s only one retiree to talk about too, as pretty much everyone has already gone. Geoffrey Jourdren finishes up with 925 total league appearances. It probably could have been a bit more, if he’d not spent 10 years of his career being a backup at PSG and Bayern. On a far more interesting note, Terry breaks through 1500 career league appearances. Kane also hits 256 international goals, which results in the number resetting to 0 just like caps. So the game has him on 96 caps with 11 goals, when the actual numbers are a stunning 352 caps with 267 goals.
Having seen my disappointment last time around, the world decides to liven things up. Denmark become both Champions of the World and Champions of Europe in 2042 and 2040, although they lose the European title to Germany 4 years later. At the continental level, the Champions League stays on track, but the Europa League brings some bizarre winners into the mix. Nîmes Olympique, Real Sociedad, Leicester and Bristol City all win a trophy. It seems Mark Noble finally made a right move transferring to Bristol City, as the club is now a strong top 6 Premier League side. Manceau wins a Coupe de France at Angers, but it’s still Nîmes making waves, forming a big three with PSG and Monaco. It may not be long before either Nîmes or Bristol City win their league, which is not something I expected to be saying.
Loyal Players Remaining: 8
Abreu Club Count: 31 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Nîmes Olympique/Bristol City (Europa League), Angers (Coupe de France)

2045-50

2045 kicks off and once again Manceau deceives me. This time it’s a loan spell in Denmark with Brøndby that had me thinking he was gone. Well you know what they say, fool me once shame on you, fool me twice… I’m probably gonna fall for it. It looks like there’s going to be no moves whatsoever once again, until June 2047 arrives and I notice a contract is set to expire. Imagine my shock when Lionel Messi is not offered a contract by Barcelona and is let go. It’s made doubly worse by the fact that of all teams to pick him up, it's Atletico Madrid. Apparently, 37 Ballon d’Or awards aren’t good enough for Barcelona anymore. I don’t even care that nothing else happens. That’s enough to stun me.
Over in the retirement home, Mark Noble moves into a room. After an up and down career, the Englishman did manage some silverware with Bristol City and ended his career with 1317 league appearances. He even earned not just 1, but 90 England caps across his 44-year career.
Around the world, interesting results are still cropping up. England grab their third World Cup win beating Colombia, whilst Honduras win their first-ever Gold Cup. Much to my bitter disappointment, Arsenal win 4 of the 5 Champions Leagues on offer, as well as 3 Premier League titles. Chelsea have a period of bottom 10 finishes which deeply upsets Terry, whilst over in France, Chamois Niortais begin to try and join the top 3. Don’t worry I’ve never heard of them either.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Honduras (Gold Cup)

2050-55

With the world still reeling at the fact the Messi has moved from Barcelona, everyone kinda forgets to make any moves. In fact, Messi is the first person to move yet again, leaving Atletico in a very cheap 34.5M move to Man City. Which is more in line with where I originally expected him to go. Abreu finishes one contract, at Hapoel Be’er Sheva, and moves onto the next, but it’s with Monterrey so doesn’t count. Sebastian, it has to be new clubs. John Terry is starting to get frustrated with a Chelsea team that has really fallen from grace. The Londoners barely survive relegation in 2052/53, so Terry may be the next to go. Or maybe I know nothing and it’s completely random.
No-one retires this year, so let’s take a brief look at some statistics of our remaining 7 + Messi. All our players have now reached 1000 appearances, with Bargfrede in last at 1173. Messi has crossed 1000 league goals, now a full 300 clear of the chasing pack of Abreu and Kane. On the international level, Thomas Müller becomes the first player to need a rollover of caps twice, moving on to a massive 524 international caps. But it’s Kane who still leads the international goal stat, nearly breaking 350, a full 50 ahead of the German.
Müller does, however, grab a World Cup win for Germany so I’m sure he won’t be too upset. At least until they’re deposed by Holland 4 years later. On the continental level, Bristol City win another Europa League title beating previous champions Espanyol. Middlesbrough also nearly earn a trophy, having joined Bristol as a top 6 team. But the winner of the biggest shock, although I did say this might happen, goes to Chamois Niortais, who topple the dominance of PSG and Monaco to capture a miraculous Ligue 1 title in the last season of the period.
Loyal Players Remaining: 7
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Chamois Niortais (Ligue 1), Bristol City/Espanyol (Europa League)

2055-60

The summer window of 2055 opens and as I warned may happen, there’s an almost immediate transfer. Fed up with Chelsea’s mediocre finishes, John Terry decides to move on. Unfortunately for Chelsea fans, Arsenal is his next club, which I’m sure will cause a few shudders. A year later and another move comes around, once again due to unhappiness over the club’s performance. Surprisingly it's Thomas Müller,who's annoyed by the fact that Bayern haven’t won a Bundesliga title since 2048, and so runs down his contract. Leverkusen almost earn his signature, but eventually its the glory of PSG that proves too much to resist. But we’re not done there! Another player runs down their contract, opting to move to Vitoria de Setubal in Portugal. Vincent Manceau finally makes a real move rather than constantly faking me out. So with another 3 players down, we’re left with our final 4. The race for the top 3 is hotting up now!
We do have a retirement this time thanks to the transfer window livening up. The world's best-ever player, Lionel Messi, retires from football. He ends up on a total of 1858 league appearances, scoring a massive 1068 goals in this time. 1430 appearances and 895 goals of those belonging to his 45-year career at Barcelona. On the international scene, he earned an impressive 505 caps and 276 goals. But it’s the awards where he shines. 279 individual awards, 82 team titles, 22 league titles, 6 Champions League titles, 45 Ballon d’Or awards. What makes it even crazier is 41 of those Ballon d’Or awards were in a row, as he earned every single one from 2015 to 2056. I don’t think I’ll see another player like that crop up in any save, truly the world’s best player.
Looking out on the world, I can say that it’s a Chamois Niortais player that breaks Messi’s streak, as the French team claim another two Ligue 1 titles. It’s hard to say they’re a “surprise winner” at this point. Bristol City finally make the full step up to join the big guns, winning 3 Carabao Cups, 1 FA Cup, 2 Premier League titles and even a Champions League trophy. If any Bristol City fans want this save to give themselves hope over the future, I can send it over. Internationally it's the era of Portugal, as they claim both the Euro and World Cup trophies.
Loyal Players Remaining: 4
Abreu Club Count: 32 clubs in 12 countries
Odd Winners: Bristol City (Premier League/Champions League), Lyon (Relegation)

With so few players left, now is probably a good time to speed it up once again. The final four will be tough to budge, so how about we move to 10-year intervals to try and cut down on dead years. And I'll be moving to the comments, because I've hit reddits character limit.

Countdown to Kickoff 2020: Sporting Kansas City

Welcome to the /MLS Sporting Kansas City Countdown to Kickoff!

If you fancy a trip back in time, here are 2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, and 2015.
Many thanks to dd12939 for allowing me to steal this template.
Now on with the show!
Team Name: Sporting Kansas City Head Coach: Peter Vermes Technical Director: Brian Bliss Captain: Matt Besler Stadium: Children’s Mercy Park, Kansas City, KS Ownership: Sporting Club Mascot: Blue the Dog Kits: Primary, Secondary Supporters Groups: The Cauldron and South Stand SC Subreddit: /SportingKC USL Championship Affiliate: ~~Swope Park Rangers~~ Sporting KC II News and Commentary: The Blue Testament, The Full 90, Talkin' Touches Podcast, No Other Pod Twitter Follows: Andy Edwards, Chad Smith, Mike
History: • MLS Cup: 2000, 2013 • Supporters’ Shield: 2000 • US Open Cup: 2004, 2012, 2015, 2017 Coaches: • Ron Newman (1996-1999) • Bob Gansler (1999-2006) • Curt Onalfo (2006-2009) • Peter Vermes (2009-Present)
Sporting Legends: • Winger Predrag “Preki” Radosavljevic (1996-2000/2002-2005) • GK Tony Meola (1999-2004) • Coach Bob Gansler (1999-2006) • Defender Jimmy Conrad (2003-2010) • DefendeCoach Peter Vermes (2000-2002/2009-Present) • Owner Lamar Hunt (1995-2006) • Midfielder Chris Klein (1998-2005) • MidfieldeAssistant Coach Kerry Zavagnin (2000-2008/2009-Present) • Forward Mo Johnston (1996-2001)
• Forward Josh Wolff (2003-2006, 2008-2010)
2020 Season Opener: Saturday, February 29 at Vancouver Whitecaps FC
2020 Home Opener: Saturday, March 7th vs. Houston Dynamo
Preseason Roster
Predicted Preferred Gameday 18: 4-3-3

-------------------Pulido------------------- --Salloi---------------------------Russell-- ------------Felipe-------Espinoza----------- --------------------Ilie-------------------- -Martins-----Besler-----Puncec-----Zusi- -------------------Melia--------------------

Subs: Sanchez, Barath, Dia, Kinda, Busio, Gerso, Shelton
Note: It is entirely possible Gerso starts over Salloi. That’s the only real positional battle for the opener, though.

2019 Overview

Western Conference Table

Pos.	Team	GP	W	L	T	GF	GA	GD	Pts.
10	Houston Dynamo	34	12	18	4	49	59	-10	40
11	Sporting Kansas City	34	10	16	8	49	67	-18	38
12	Vancouver Whitecaps FC	34	8	16	10	37	59	-22	34

Offensive Leaders

Player	Minutes	Goals	Assists
Felipe Gutierrez	2722	12	3
Johnny Russell	2115	9	9
Krisztian Nemeth	1559	8	2
Yohan Croizet	1091	3	2
Gianluca Busio	923	3	1
Gerso Fernandes	1749	2	6
Ilie Sanchez	2509	2	5

Season Review

Heading into 2019, expectations were sky-high for SKC fans. Fresh off of securing the top spot in the Western conference and being one half away from going to the final game of MLS Cup, Sporting returned a bunch of veterans and brought in some new players to replace and improve upon the departures. We’ll talk about the players later, but suffice to say: they didn’t. Even the most pessimistic SKC fan wouldn’t have predicted the bottom falling out quite as hard as it did in 2019, causing SKC to miss the playoffs for the first time since 2010. It seems that everything that could go wrong, did. The fact that the season started off as well as it did made the collapse all the more painful.
We began our season in CONCACAF Champions League, beginning with the toughest draw of any MLS team: Toluca. Since SKC was the lower seed, we started our campaign at home, with the second leg of the contest being at Toluca. The result? 3-0, SKC. Goals from Nemeth, Gerso, and Ilie. Nemeth looked like the goalscorer we needed at the striker position, Gerso looked like he was going to put it all together with a goal and an assist, and Ilie did this. It was as great of a result as we could have imagined, heading down to Mexico with a commanding lead and no away goals conceded. Everyone expected a cagy, defensive match where we held on for dear life and advanced. Instead, Sporting KC scored in the 8th minute and never looked back, ending the game with a 2-0 victory and heading on to the next round 5-0 on aggregate. At one point, Toluca’s own fans were mocking their team, shouting “Ole!” every time SKC completed another pass. It was hailed around the league, with articles written about the historic win and pundits calling Sporting KC potentially the best pure possession team in MLS history. It’s safe to say that the hype was very real. Next up: MLS play.
We opened our MLS campaign against LAFC, who finished third in the West in their expansion year and were widely considered to be a real contender in 2019 (and for good reason). The game took place three days after the victory in Toluca, and three days before we were scheduled to travel to Panama to take on Independiente in the next round of CCL. Peter Vermes opted to play his full first choice XI in California, wanting to fight for as many points as possible to avoid digging a hole early. It would have worked, too, if it wasn’t for a meddling Diomande, who broke the 1-1 tie in the 90+4 minute to give LAFC 3 points. It was a disappointing result, but not cause for any panic. LAFC was good, SKC was tired, all was fine. Fontas suffered a hip pointer and was subbed out, but that’s no big deal. Oh, how naive we were. We didn’t know what was coming. Next up: Independiente. We traveled down to Panama and brought a 2-1 deficit, as well as an injured Salloi, home. SKC beat Philadelphia 2-0 in the home opener, calming concerns that things were going wrong. The home leg of the Independiente contest had SKC cruise to a 3-0 win, 4-2 on aggregate, and backup striker Hurtado was hurt, undergoing knee surgery and given a 2-3 month timetable for return.
The next two games were MLS play: a 1-1 tie with Colorado made notable by former SKC striker Diego Rubio scoring the opener before Russell’s incredible free kick salvaged a draw for SKC. There was also the 7-1 home victory over Montreal. Nemeth hat trick, Busio goal, tons of fun. Unfortunately for SKC fans, that was just about the last bit of fun for a long while. Their next win wouldn’t come until the end of May against Seattle. The next CCL matchup was against Monterrey, who completely obliterated SKC to the tune of 5 goals to nil. In the first leg. The second leg wasn’t much better, with Monterrey beating SKC in KC 5-2, for an aggregate score of 10-2.
The rest of the season was very bad and I won’t spend much time on it. Two wins against Seattle was certainly nice, but there were way too many embarrassing scorelines. 1-4 against SJ, 0-3 against Atlanta, 1-5 against LAFC, 2-7 against LAG, and 0-6 against FC Dallas all stand out. I’ll get into the players, but it’s safe to say that injuries completely and utterly destroyed SKC’s season. At one point, there were 6 players healthy enough to practice. SKC earned 1 point from the 6 games they played after August to close out the season.

Players

Check out The Blue Testament’s Year in review for every player, located here!
Shoutout to major_winters_506 for their offseason roster thread here

Transfers Out

Date	Player	Position	Action
11/19	Medranda	Midfielder	Removed: Picked in Expansion Draft
11/19	Zendejas	GK	Removed: Traded to Nashville SC
11/21	Sinovic	Defender	Removed: Contract Option Declined
11/21	Feilhaber	Midfielder	Removed: Contract Option Declined
11/21	Zelalem	Midfielder	Removed: Contract Option Declined
11/21	Nemeth	Forward	Removed: Contract Expired
11/21	Hasler	Defender	Removed: Contract Expired
11/21	Wallace	Defender	Removed: Contract Expired

Jimmy Medranda: Sporting loses another fan favorite in the expansion draft, as part of a deal including leaving Jimmy exposed and trading Zendejas to Nashville SC. Jimmy was always the heir apparent to Seth Sinovic, while also being able to fill in pretty much anywhere on the pitch. His 1v1 ability will not be forgotten, nor will his incredible goals. Unfortunately, injury really robbed him of a lot of time.
Adrian Zendejas: The three-year backup to Melia moved on in a trade with Nashville SC. He only made one appearance with the senior team, starting the 1-1 tie with FC Cincinnati.
Seth Sinovic: Seth was acquired by SKC in 2011 from the New England Revolution. Since then, he’s made 210 appearances for us before having his option declined this offseason. He was signed in free agency by the Revs. I think every SKC fan still believes that at some point before the end of the season, we’ll see Seth back on the team and winning the starting left back position. After featuring there for so long, and fighting off so many challengers, it just makes sense.
Benny Feilhaber: Another long-time SKC veteran, Benny returned this season from his stint with the Colorado Rapids while SKC was in the midst of its horrible injury crisis. He started 13 games, and gave us some life when we needed it most. Benny had his option declined and remains a free agent.
Gedion Zelalem: The extremely talented midfielder never found his footing under Vermes, only managing 5 starts for the injury-riddled SKC. His reportedly very expensive option was declined, and he was picked up by NYCFC.
Krisztian Nemeth: Oh, what could have been. Nemeth had a promising start to his second stint with SKC, scoring 7 goals in his first 11 regular season games in 2019, and 4 in CCL. Unfortunately, he would only score once the rest of the way en route to Vermes choosing to not renew his contract. Nemeth is currently without a team.
Nicolas Hasler: Hasler was signed for one year to be defensive/midfield depth, and he did just that in 2019, making 9 appearances for SKC. Hasley now plays for FC Thun of the Swiss Super League.
Rodney Wallace: Rodney Wallace was signed as wing/left back depth for 2019. He had one start, playing 27 minutes before suffering a season-ending injury. Wallace is currently without a team.

Transfers In

Date	Player	Position	Action
11/26	Sanchez	GK	Added: Selected in Re-Entry Draft
12/4	Puncec	Defender	Added: Signed through 2021
12/9	Shelton	Forward	Added: Signed through 2022
12/10	Pulido	Forward	Added: Signed through 2023
1/10	Dia	Defender	Added: Signed for 2020 with options through 2022
1/13	Townsend	Midfielder	Added: 2020 MLS Super Draft
1/13	Kasak	Defender	Added: 2020 MLS Super Draft
1/23	Kinda	Midfielder	Added: One-Year Loan
2/4	Dick	GK	Loaned to USL Championship side Phoenix Rising FC for the 2020
2/14	Reid	Defender	Added: On loan from West Ham

Richard Sanchez: Sanchez was acquired via the re-entry draft from the Chicago Fire after making no appearances in 2019 for them. He will serve as backup to Tim Melia while Dick gets experience on loan and Pulskamp starts for SKCII.
Roberto Puncec: Puncec was out of contract after playing for HNK Rijelca in the Croatian league. He appears to be the starting right center back next to Matt Besler, starting there in every preseason match so far. Puncec has played extensively in Europe between Israel, Croatia, and the 2. Bundesliga.
Khiry Shelton: Shelton returns after a short stint with SC Paderborn, during which he rarely featured and never scored for the senior team, while suffering an injury which caused him to miss substantial time. While Shelton was injured, Paderborn earned promotion to the Bundesliga, which seems to have proved too high of a level for Shelton. Nonetheless, he’s back in KC and appears to be much improved technically, and figures to be the backup striker and potentially a feature on the wing.
Alan Pulido: The Striker that was Promised. He’s here. Sporting KC ownership finally opened their pocketbooks, spending a rumored $9.5m on the Mexican striker who won the golden boot in Liga MX’s 2019 Apertura. Pulido appears to be the perfect striker for what Vermes wants, with a high defensive workrate, combination ability, positional flexibility, and a deadly finish. Expectations are sky-high for the player who more than doubled SKC’s historical net spend.
Amadou Dia: Dia returns to SKC after a three year stint in the USL with Phoenix. He will be the backup left back behind Luis Martins.
Jaret Townsend: Hey look a draft pick!
James Kasak: Hey look another draft pick!
Gadi Kinda: I Gadi say, this guys’ name seems Kinda great for puns. Kinda was acquired on loan from Israeli club Beitar Jerusalem. He had enjoyed a breakout season in 2019, scoring 7 goals and 4 assists from midfield in 16 appearances. The Ethiopian has yet to feature for the senior Israeli national team, despite appearing for their youth teams. He was called up for EURO 2020 qualifying. Kinda appears to be midfield depth, but is sure to push for a starting spot this season. He has impressed in preseason with his runs, footwork, and work rate.
Winston Reid: The 31 year old New Zealand center back is on loan from West Ham, who he’s made 222 competitive appearances for. Reid hasn’t made a senior competitive appearance since March 2018 due to injury. With almost two years off injured, this move appears to be a gamble that he can regain his form and once again become a top defender. If he does, he will undoubtedly be cemented in the SKC backline.

Returning Players

The Vets

Roger Espinoza: A bulldog in the central midfield, Honduran international Roger Espinoza was drafted by Sporting KC in 2008. Apart from two seasons he spent in England with Wigan, Espinoza has been a mainstay in the middle of the field, playing as a box-to-box destroyer. Roger lost a chunk of 2019 to injury, and another chunk to red cards (three, tying his personal “best” and moving into the league lead for total). He also proved just how much he means to this team, as SKC went on a terrible run when he was out. As Peter Vermes continues to search for a replacement for the 33 year old, expect Roger to continue to get plenty of minutes.
Matt Besler: Drafted in 2009 by the then-Kansas City Wizards, hometown hero Matt Besler has long been a stalwart in Peter Vermes’ defense. Apart from a down year in 2016, Besler has been one of the most consistent players in recent memory, but he’s 33 years old and his contract expires at the end of the year. Could this be the last year we see Besler in an SKC uniform? He looks to be entrenched as a starter and our captain, but it’s uncertain how much longer that will last with a potentially deep CB room behind him.
Graham Zusi: Zusi has been a near-constant presence on the wing for Sporting since he was drafted in 2009, though since the beginning of 2017 he has become Peter Vermes’ go-to right back. 2019 saw him named an MLS All Star, although most believe that honor was a year too late and not quite deserved this year. Regardless, how they told him was one of the highlights of the season. Graham looks to be the starter at right back yet again, but Lindsey is gunning for his position and Zusi may not be able to hold him off for much longer. Zusi’s contract runs through 2021.
Tim Melia: The 2017 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year should need little introduction at this point, nor should his storied career move from Rochester Rhinos’ backup to MLS pool goalkeeper to his current tenure with Sporting Kansas City. While Melia, along with the rest of the backline, performed not very well in 2019, he will look to regain his top form as the starter between the sticks.

The New Core

Johnny Russell: Scottish winger Johnny Russell returns for his third year in Kansas City having made himself a favorite both on and off the field. Most often deployed as an inverted right winger, his strength and skill terrorized defenses as he contributed 9 goals and 9 assists in 28 games last season. Look for him and his pet turtle to continue to put the fear of god in defenders from the right side of the field.
Ilie: The 29-year-old Spanish midfielder is a product of the Barcelona academy and played for Barcelona B for five seasons before a short stint in 2. Bundesliga with 1860 Munich. After joining SKC in 2017, he locked down the starting defensive midfield spot, starting 67 of 68 league games over two years and becoming an essential part of the team’s midfield structure. 2019 saw Ilie start 27 games, and when he was on the field he seemed much less effective than in years past. An All-Star in 2018, Ilie will look to regain that form this year.
Felipe Gutiérrez: Chilean midfielder Felipe Gutierrez was probably the MVP of the team in 2019, scoring 12 and assisting 3. Guti was behind only Melia in minutes played, and could be found at all three midfield positions throughout the year, although Vermes obviously prefers him at the attacking midfield spot. His ability and versatility means that it’s a safe bet Guti Gang will be in contention for the most starts on the team, as well as team MVP.

Something to Prove

Andreu Fontas: Fontas, uh, didn’t exactly work out in his first year. His $1m salary was part of the reason why Ike left, and then Fontas only started 10 games, a number of which were very bad, before getting injured for several months. Once he was healthy, Vermes declined to include him in the 18, and Fontas had surgery as soon as the season was over, which will keep him out for roughly the first month of this season. It’s widely speculated that the front office plans to buy out Fontas’s contract, considering the additions of Puncec and Reid and the fact that Fontas doesn’t appear to be in Vermes’s plans even when healthy. The biggest stumbling block for that is his contract: guaranteed at $1m through 2022, it would cost $3m to buy him out and get the cap space that he takes up back. The fans want him gone, so we’ll see if the ownership continues the “injection of capital” and buys out his contract.
Botond Barath: The Hungarian center back entered 2019 as the third center back on the depth chart, but ended up starting 20 games, behind only Matt Besler. Barath wasn’t a disaster, but he certainly didn’t distinguish himself as part of Sporting’s backline. Heading into 2020 it appears that he will go back to being a third or fourth option on the depth chart, capable of stepping up when needed but unlikely to be a difference maker.
Graham Smith: The 24 year old draft pick has yet to impress for the senior team, starting 10 games and giving up 20 goals last year (including 7 to Zlatan and the Galaxy). Barring another injury disaster, Smith will likely find himself playing the whole season with SKCII, as the fifth center back on the depth chart.
Luis Martins: Brought in to replace Seth, Martins appears to have done what nobody has done before: actually replace Seth. Starting the final 9 games of the season, Martins flashed his potential on offense and appeared capable on defense. Martins will start at left back this season and will hope to provide that spark of offense on the left side that Vermes has been searching for, while improving upon 2019’s truly terrible defense.
Daniel Salloi: After leading the team in goals in 2018, Salloi suffered a pretty severe decline in production, only managing to find the back of the net once, in the second to last game of the season. By the way the team celebrated, you’d think we had just won the cup. Salloi was another player who lost time due to injury, getting hurt in CCL against Independiente. Daniel will surely look to rediscover his form this season, which should see him draw plenty of starts at left wing.
Gerso Fernandes: Gerso was another player hampered by injuries, breaking his left wrist in a game against New England. He had seized the starting role at left wing from Salloi after Daniel’s run of poor form, but wasn’t a clear-cut starter when he returned from injury. Gerso possesses speed that nobody else on the roster has, so he will definitely have a role to play. The battle between him and Salloi for the left wing remains open, and both will surely see plenty of minutes.
Eric Hurtado: Guess what happened to Hurtado in 2019? You’re right, he was injured. Sporting’s backup striker lost most of the season to injury, starting only 8 games, all after the season was pretty much over. It appears that the 29 year old will fall to third on the center forward depth chart.

The Kids

Jaylin Lindsey: After starting 6 games in 2018, Lindsey only started once for SKC in 2019. The reason? You guessed it - he got injured. Turning 20 this year, Lindsey will look to unseat Graham Zusi at right back, something that should be easy if Zusi plays as poorly as he did in 2019. Sporting a ton of personality, Lindsey is a fan-favorite and should at least get minutes rotationally, assuming he stays healthy.
Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal: Long-touted as the future of SKC’s defensive midfield, Kuzain missed his chance to get minutes with the first team by getting injured right when SKC needed players the most. Instead, he spent the entire season with SPR, often playing further ahead in the midfield than his preferred position. His passing accuracy of 88.4% shows his skill with the ball, and the 21 year old homegrown will look to have a breakout year with SKC II and potentially get minutes in the senior team’s crowded midfield.
Gianluca Busio: Sporting KC’s most promising prospect, 17-year-old Homegrown player Gianluca Busio, was the second-youngest player to ever sign an MLS contract, and is the second-youngest goal scorer in MLS history (thanks a lot, Freddy Adu). In his second full year as a professional, Busio took advantage of SKC’s injury situation by staying healthy, increasing his minutes from 153 in 2018 to 923 in 2019. While Busio occasionally looked lost, he more often did not look out of place playing with men significantly older than him. While he didn’t lock down a starting spot, Busio will look to improve on his minutes for the second consecutive year as part of a very crowded midfield.
Cameron Duke: The 11th homegrown player in SKC history, the 19 year old midfielder has been in the Sporting Academy since 2012, and has been part of the US youth national team at the U-14, U-15, U-16, and U-18 levels. Duke will almost certainly spend the entire year with SKC II.
Felipe Hernandez: Felipe Hernandez is the first player to go from a SKC Academy affiliate, to the SKC Academy, to the Swope Park Rangers and then to the first team. He’s been touted as the heir apparent to Roger Espinoza, and often looked the part while drawing tons of starts with SPR. He scored eight goals for the USL team, second only to the center forward. Hernandez has the potential to see some midfield time with the senior team, but look to see him spend the bulk of his time with SKC II
Tyler Freeman: The youngest player signed to the first team, Freeman spent the whole season fighting for minutes on a poor SPR team, starting only 12 games. The 17 year old forward will look to improve his minutes and production with SKC II this year.

2020 Preview

Things to Watch

WE GOT A STRIKER Mission accomplished. After spending years and years waiting for the ownership to open up their wallets and pay for a big-time number 9, they finally did it. And boy, did they do it. Sporting’s net spend on transfer fees heading into this offseason was approximately $4m. Alan Pulido reportedly cost $9.5m, or more than double that. If he can live up to his price tag and capitalize on the opportunities SKC regularly produces, Pulido will score a ton of goals.
What’s a defense? Unfortunately, all the goals in the world don’t mean much without a competent defense to back them up. 2019 was a horrible year for SKC’s usually stellar defense. They let in 67 goals, a mark only beaten by FC Cincinnati. Vermes has responded by bringing in two new center backs, Puncec and Reid, keeping Martins around after he started the last run of games last year, and letting everyone else get healthy over the long, long offseason. If SKC wants to be back in the postseason, the defense will have to massively, massively improve.
#PlayYourKids
The HashtagPlayYourKids movement had its ups and downs with SKC in 2019. A couple of kids missed out on opportunities due to injury, most notably Jaylin Lindsey and Wan Kuzain Wan Kamal. Busio managed to improve his MLS minutes substantially, however, and SKC fended off a couple of suitors to hold on to the extremely promising midfielder. If Vermes wants to boast one of the best academies in MLS, and he does, then he’ll have to give the kids some more time with the senior team, something he’s been criticized for not doing in the past. The players with the clearest path to minutes are Busio in the midfield and Lindsey at right back, along with Salloi at left wing, so expect to see those three to get a solid amount of time. There are seven total homegrowns on the roster, including Busio, Lindsey, Kuzain, Cameron Duke, Tyler Freeman, Felipe Hernandez, and Daniel Salloi.
Do the vets still have it? As the corollary to #PlayYourKids, SKC still has a number of older players on the team. The biggest question of this year might be “Was 2019 an aberration due to injury, or a sign of things to come for Besler, Roger, and Zusi?” While Vermes seems to be betting, at least initially, that the older guys still have what it takes, there are capable and hungry replacements waiting in the wings for them to slip up. This is likely the last window for trophies for those three all together, so they will have a strong desire to work hard and prove that they’re not completely over the hill yet.

Prognosis

There are a lot of open questions for this Sporting KC team, which means the range of outcomes is going to be wide.
Realistic Best Case Scenario Turns out, 2019 was entirely the fault of historic levels of injury! Sporting looks like the 2018 and early 2019 team, dominating with the ball, snuffing out counter-attacks, and scoring at will by committee. The team returns to the top of the Western Conference and is competitive throughout the playoffs, although not quite doing enough to win the whole thing - the roster construction isn’t quite there. The team does bring home a trophy, though, winning the USOC in a thrilling game.
Realistic Worst Case Scenario The veterans really are past it, the kids aren’t quite ready, and injuries do not stay away. The back line remains mediocre and Pulido can’t put the offense on his back. SKC misses the playoffs for the second year in a row, and calls for Peter’s job get much, much louder.
Realistic More Probable Scenario Injuries hurt in 2019, but they clearly weren’t the only problem. The defense improves from last year, but is just league average. The midfield is much better than last year, and 5 players play more than 1000 minutes, keeping everyone fresh and competitive. The front three really improves with the addition of Pulido, and SKC scores a ton of goals and is generally fun to watch. It’s enough to put SKC back in the playoffs, and even win a playoff game! Unfortunately, that’s where things end, as Sporting falls in the second round of the playoffs in a competitive game. They make a USOC run, but don’t win that either.

New England Patriots vs Tennessee Titans (a matchup breakdown)

Now I did this last year just for the playoffs and I of course went 3/3 betting on the pats with good reason. This postseason is a little different and I need to see the pats play and win a game before I can even think about maybe picking them to go to the super bowl. It doesn’t mean I’ve lost faith but the top 2 teams in the AFC are very good but let’s start this breakdown and talk about this rare wildcard matchup for the patriots this Saturday night. This is a lot of words and writing and rambling so if you wish to not read a lot then don’t mind it I just wanna put some insight into this game with a lot of detail.
This is a position by position breakdown with stats that are relevant to the game. Factors that are all in play for this one game and of course a prediction of who I think will win this game and a long reason why.
First we start with coaching

Bill vs Vrabel: we all know that bill gets the advantage here but I do not sleep on Vrabel, he’s fiery and aggressive as they come as a head coach. He doesn’t fear big plays he encourages them. He doesn’t come off to me as a huge Xs and Os coach but more like a motivator like a better mike tomlin who knows a bit more about the game and emotions of football. He will have his team ready to come out and play I do not doubt that. But bill is the best coach in the league so I’m going with

Advantage: Bill
Then of course comes the 2 QBs

Brady vs Tannehill: tannehill has been on fire of late, one of if not the hottest qb in the league atm and has resurrected this titans team. He’s been great but he’s never played in a playoff game. It’s great to be really good in the regular season but in the playoffs it’s completely different. Tannehill has been great but no one is better then Brady or has close to the experience as him so I can’t pick against Brady.

Advantage: Brady, what to watch for: when Brady doesn’t turn the ball over the pats are 8-0, when he has 1 or more turnovers the pats are 4-4.

Aj Brown/Corey Davis vs Stephon Gilmore/J.C. Jackson: tannehills two main weapons one of whom has been one of the hottest receivers in the league. AJ brown he’s been great, fast physical tough and good ball skills he’s been one of the main reasons this titans passing game has been so great down the stretch. To me this is great for the pats. Gilmore does not have a good history vs Corey Davis last two matchups they’ve been on each other it hasn’t gone too well. With the emergence of brown, Gilmore will now be put on AJ and Jackson will get placed on Davis. Both of these matchups are much more favorable imo just based on how they matchup with each other and gilmores past struggles with Corey Davis. If it was the other way around I might feel differently but with brown now primed to be on Gilmore I feel better saying

Advantage: Gilmore and Jackson, what to watch for: The titans passing game is more predicated on making big plays tannehill over this stretch is averaging the most yards per completion in the league. The titans love the big play and Bill mentioned this in his press conference earlier this week. Very little red zone production because when they score it’s on big plays. Gilmore and Jackson’s Job will be limiting those big plays and I think they are exceptional at that which is why I give Gilmore and Jackson the advantage here.

Pats D line vs Titans O line. Pats are 8th in sacks this season and the titans finished the season as the 4th best run blocking team however they rank dead last in pass protecting allowing the 3rd most sacks in the league but was allowing them at a percentage of 11.4% of drop backs worst of all NFL offensive lines. So this really is a breakdown of two separate parts of the o line if it comes to run blocking a big advantage goes to the titans but if it comes to pass rush vs pass blocking the patriots have a huge advantage
Derrick henry vs Pats defense: this is by far the biggest matchup of the game. When Derrick henry runs for over 100 yards with Tannehill at QB the titans are 5-0 when it’s below 100 they’re 2-4. That stat alone tells you a lot of what you need to know about this titans team. You limit the run your chances of winning sky rocket.

That’s the name of the game and Henry has been so good that I have to give him the advantage but the big thing with Henry is he is a boom or bust in 5 games combined this year he had 700 yards and the other 11 he had 800 yards which is about 76 per game in those bust games. So he’s really either going for 150 or he’s going for 50 the biggest thing is getting henry down behind the line you can’t let him get into open space and accelerate because then he’s so big its almost impossible to tackle and is why he gets so many big plays which is his specialty big runs on stretch runs. And it sets up their play action which will be a huge part of this game and may very well determine the game.
Advantage: Henry, the pats will try to stop him tho that’s their #1 priority. Pats are 6th in rush yards allowed this year which is much better then people would have you believe not top 5 but idt you need top 5 to stop this titans run game.
6.Pats receivers vs Titans Corners. This one is simple and idt is a huge factor in this game everyone except Edelman is at a disadvantage here and that’s about all I have to say on it. Pats receivers are almost a lost cause this season and this game will not be determined by how they play edelman will need to win his matchup vs Logan ryan tho.

Pats O line vs titans D line: pats ranked 9th in run blocking and 5th in sacks allowed. Titans ranked 12th in rush yards allowed per game 14th in total sacks are ranked 12th in scoring defense with 20.7 points per game. They’re a mediocre defense and are mediocre at stopping the run. When michel runs for over 60 yards in a game the pats are 16-1 (one loss was last week vs Miami) the run game for the pats has gained some momentum of late, running the ball and play action were huge for the pats last year and they need to get it going in this game or the offense again will look like it has in a lot of big games this year.

Advantage: Pats o line
Final Verdict:
That’s really all the key matchups I look at in this game and when I look at it I really don’t see why the pats shouldn’t win this game. When you break it down position by position I just don’t see where the titans have this huge advantage where they should be favored to win this game. You can’t come into New England with such a glaring weakness such as how you do when the run game is stagnated and expect to win. The only way I see the titans winning this game is if the pats turn the ball over 2-3 times and Henry goes for one of his huge games.
Henry and the running game is the one thing that can change this game and get the titans a victory it’s not Ryan tannehill. Tannehill has just been good at making the most of his opportunity but he isn’t the reason they are winning, he’s just the reason they aren’t losing. His numbers look great but they aren’t what is turning into wins. The wins come with Henry. Since tannehill started they’ve played 3 teams that were over .500 and went 1-2 (not counting last week vs Houston) and in both losses Henry was non existent but tannehill had some pretty good numbers that looked good but were basically empty calories.
X factor: the pats pass rush could have a huge game on Saturday they might get 4-5 sacks in this game but it all depends on game script and if the pats can get an early lead and get the Titans out of their run first mentality. X factor you want a specific player??? I’ll give Hightower as a pass rusher and Lawrence guy as a run stuffer.
MY PREDICTION: the pats come out and win this one by a touchdown or more. I got the pats 27-17. Henry is also tied for 2nd in the league with 3 lost fumbles tied with Chubb and Gordon and one behind Chris Carson who had 4. I think Henry loses one early. Tannehill throws one int and the pats get an early lead and that will be the game for the pats. Then it’s about managing clock and not turning the ball over. Titans are a good team but idt it’s good enough to beat the pats in New England as much as all the patriot haters will have the pats losing this game and the dynasty is over. Not yet I think the pats take this one.
Another contributing factor to me is both teams will want to run the ball and if neither team can, then which team do I think would win. Without a doubt the pats are the team I would pick to win if that were the case. they’ve basically been doing that all year winning games by any means necessary. I just don’t see that with the titans.
There’s no specific group on either side of the ball that I see as game changing. Henry is great but he’s not a top 5 running back every week in and out. I’ve seen many teams including the titans 2 years ago have this run heavy scheme and come in get stuffed to start the game then try throwing it and make an early mistake. Early mistakes never play well in Gillette unless you have tremendous talent carrying you.
So let me know what you guys think of all this. It’s a lot of writing but I hope this helps give some more perspective on the opponent and made it clear what the keys to this game are. The pats could very well lose this game but based on what I’ve seen and the player to player breakdown and the way these teams matchup, with the pats at home I don’t see them losing this one. It’ll be a good game but idt the titans are there yet.
Side-note: idc if the pats lost to the dolphins they lose to them every year and Fitzpatrick had a great game it happens. It just sucks it cost us the bye week and the defense couldn’t hold. We will see a different pats team in the playoffs that will be highly competitive they may not make it back to the super bowl but It’s not out of the realm of possibility. I think the saints in the NFC are gonna make the Super Bowl as the 3 seed so if they can make it then the pats can too. It all starts this week tho by showing up and beating the titans as they should.

Offseason Review Series: Day 13: The Washington Redskins

Washington Redskins

Division: NFC East

Coaching Changes:

ILB Coach: Kirk Olivadotti departed, replaced by Rob Ryan
Special Teams Coordinator: Ben Kotwica departed, replaced by Nate Kaczor
Defensive Backs Coach: Torrian Gray departed, replaced by Ray Horton

Free Agency

Players Lost/Cut:

Player Name:	Position:	New Team:
Zach Brown	ILB	Philadelphia Eagles
Stacy McGee	DT	Unsigned
Jamison Crowder	WR	New York Jets
Ty Nsekhe	OT	Buffalo Bills
Preston Smith	OLB	Green Bay Packers
HaHa Clinton-Dix	FS	Chicago Bears

Analysis:

Zach Brown: Brown's departure won't have too negative of an impact, at least in terms of pass defense. Brown's repeated inability to cover Tight Ends- often resulting in huge chunk plays being given up to opposing offenses resulting in far too many extended drives- ultimately lead to Brown becoming one of the highest-paid backups in the league by the end of the season. He could very well bounce back in the Eagles' defense, which features far more talent than that of the Redskins and thus is more equipped to mask Brown's substantial deficiencies, but this was a necessary move and shouldn't lead to any further struggles despite the lack of depth at the position. Decision Grade: B
Stacy McGee: McGee's departure won't be noticeable, as he was little more than a rotational player and didn't make that big of an impact overall. Decision Grade: A
Jamison Crowder: This one will ignite some debate amongst the burgundy and gold faithful, but in my opinion, there is no chance Crowder should've been brought back, especially not for the money that the Jets eventually paid for his services. His play and efficiency dropped markedly over the last couple seasons and although his presence in the locker room will certainly be missed, allowing him to walk makes sense. Decision Grade: B+
Ty Nsekhe: This is the lone departure that will hurt the team entering the 2019-2020 season. Nsekhe was a supremely valuable asset, as he was able to fill in either Tackle position and perform respectably. The mere thought of Ereck Flowers having to replace Trent Williams, as opposed to Nsekhe, makes me feel nauseous. The Redskins will likely regret not bringing Nsekhe back. Decision Grade: D
Preston Smith: Preston Smith was a reliable player health-wise during his tenure with the Redskins and he flashed brilliance at times, but his Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde style of play (some weeks he looks like a pro bowler, while others it's hard to even find his name in the box score) made the decision of whether or not to bring him back a fairly simple one for the team. The Packers gave him a gigantic contract, meaning he likely would've been priced out of the Redskins' range even if they had wanted to re-sign him. Letting him walk was a relative no brainer. Decision Grade: A+
HaHa Clinton-Dix: Clinton-Dix never really panned out as planned in his 1/2 season or so as a Redskin. Initially, it looked like the Redskins knocked it out of the park when they traded for him just before the deadline last year, but for whatever reason, his ability never seemed to translate into Manusky's scheme. Injury certainly played a factor, but even when he was healthy Clinton-Dix Struggled to make an impact. Chalk this one up as a failed experiment. Decision Grade: C+

Players Acquired/Re-Signed:

Player Name:	Position:	Previous Team:
Landon Collins	SS	New York Giants
Case Keenum	QB	Denver Broncos
Ereck Flowers	OT/OG	Jacksonville Jaguars
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie	DB	Oakland Raiders
Adrian Peterson	RB	Washington Redskins

Landon Collins: Collins signed a massive deal (potentially worth $84 million, though it's worth noting only $44.5 million of that deal is fully guaranteed) with the Redskins shortly after the Free Agency signing period began. By his own account, Collins idolized Sean Taylor since he began playing football and wore #21 for the duration of his professional career in honor of ST. That is not where the comparisons end between Taylor and Collins, however. Much like the "Meast" used to do back in the day, Landon Collins is an absolute head buster. He is an extremely physical presence, both in run defense as well as in pass coverage. He is typecasted as an exclusively "in-the-box" type safety, however, if you look deeper into his stats, last season was the only time he struggled noticeably in pass defense. Not like he was all-world or anything in other years, but he was at least above average in pass coverage. By many accounts, Collins will bring something the Redskins are in dire need of: leadership. He was a vocal leader within the Giants' locker room, and if there's something the Redskins could truly benefit from, it's having more vocal leaders on and off the field. I was thrilled with this signing, admittedly more than most fans whom I read reactions from. I think he will prove to be worth every penny of the large contract he was given, however; as a Redskins fan, I fully understand the reality that he may never pan out and just become another bust to add to the collection. Overall Grade: A-
Case Keenum: Keenum was acquired via trade with the Denver Broncos, with Denver and Washington swapping late-round picks in exchange for the journeyman QB. In addition, Denver agreed to eat a large portion of Keenum's contract. Essentially, the Redskins wound up getting Keenum for free. This acquisition was savvy, and Keenum does technically fit Gruden's scheme, but so does just about any QB with a pulse. Overall Grade: B-
Ereck Flowers: He's terrible, and has been for his entire career. So far this offseason, all the stories regarding Flowers involve him getting absolutely worked by undrafted rookies during mini-camp and OTAs. Yuck. We're in big trouble if he has to play. Overall Grade: F
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie: This signing reminded me a lot of the Orlando Scandrick experiment from the last offseason. Low-risk signing for a possible nickel or dime back who at one time was among the league's elite. He definitely is not capable of playing up to the previous level he displayed with the Giants, but he could potentially find his way into a beleaguered backfield, especially if (God forbid) somebody goes down during training camp. Overall Grade: C+
Adrian Peterson: One of the few bright spots on our offense last season. Just an absolute freak of nature. He showed shocking burst and vision and had a knack for making something out of absolutely nothing, I'm glad to have him back for another year. Particularly since Guice will be limping into training camp. Overall Grade: A

Draft Results & Pick Analysis:

Round	Pick	Player	Position	School
1	15	Dwayne Haskins	QB	Ohio State
1	26	Montez Sweat	DE/OLB	Miss State
3	76	Terry McLaurin	WR	Ohio State
4	112	Bryce Love	RB	Stanford
4	131	Wes Martin	OG	Indiana
5	153	Ross Pierschbacher	C	Alabama
5	173	Cole Holcomb	ILB	UNC
6	206	Kelvin Harmon	WR	NC State
7	227	Jimmy Moreland	DB	James Madison
7	253	Jordan Brailford	DE	OK State

Dwayne Haskins: Superb steal of a pick here. Absolutely loved it. Dwayne Haskins checks all the boxes for what you want in a franchise QB in the NFL: smart, hard-working, able to manipulate defenses with his eyes, above-average arm strength, decent enough footwork. He'll push to be the day 1 starter, and frankly, I think he's the most talented and deserving QB outside of Alex Smith currently on the roster. Some believed this pick to have been forced on the front office by Snyder and co. in an effort to sell jerseys and put butts in the stands. If that's the case, I drank the Kool-Aid. I could care less if this was Snyder's doing or not. I could very well be wrong, but I think this kid will be a stud and I absolutely love the fact that they stayed at 15 and still got their man. Overall Grade: A+
Montez Sweat: Just as the excitement of drafting our franchise QB without trading up started to wear off, up pops the Redskins' name again trading up into Indianapolis' 26th overall spot. Who's name does Goodell call? None other than Montez Sweat. Bye Preston Smith, we just drafted a more athletic and explosive version of you. The thought of pairing Kerrigan with Sweat on the outside with Jon Allen and Payne on the inside is tantalizing. Sweat is as explosive as any OLB/DE you'll ever see. His combine numbers were ridiculous enough, but the craziest part is that when you look at the game film, his on-field production was every bit as impressive as his 4.41 (!!!) 40 time. The guy was a sack machine at Mississippi State, and he certainly projects as a day 1 starter. Overall Grade: A+
Terry McLaurin: Another pick I absolutely loved. "Scary Terry" should see the field early and often, and if Haskins does as well it won't shock anyone if they develop a rapport very early on. McLaurin has speed, above average height and flashed some pretty decent hands in college playing with Dwayne Haskins at Ohio State. He also adds value as a potential returner. Overall Grade: A
Bryce Love: This one was a bit of a head-scratcher to me at first, but after thinking about it, who cares if we have plenty of bodies at running back? This guy ran for over 2,000 yards in the season before last. He definitely has some red flags, namely the fact that he's still recovering from surgery from an injury he suffered at the end of last season. But if he can come back healthy for any part of training camp, he might turn some heads out there. He was a home run hitter and three-down back in college, and he should be able to become a productive player in the NFL assuming he heals up properly. Overall Grade: B-
Wes Martin: I had never heard of the guy, but listening to Cooley after the draft definitely got me hyped on him. He put up strong numbers during the combine bench press, and from the limited highlights I was able to watch of him, he was a physical presence at Indiana. Sort of reminds me of a poor man's Brandon Scherff, and you could make the case for him to push for a day 1 starting job, but that's more of an indictment of the current state of our line more than a compliment to Martin. Still, a solid run blocker with the potential to develop into a starter. Nothing to whine about there, even if it was a bit of a reach. Overall Grade: C+
Ross Pierschbacher: This one felt like a bit of a reach, as well, much like the Wes Martin selection. A lot of boards I looked at had him undrafted. But he was a part of a very physical (discounting the national championship game, of course) offensive line at Alabama. With the lack of elite talent at the position, I'd expect Pierschbacher to push for playing time a few years down the road. Yet again, you can have too many offensive linemen, however, so I can't knock the pick too much. Overall Grade: C
Cole Holcomb: Ran a sub-4.5, solid number of tackles during his three years as a starter at UNC after walking on, this pick will get overshadowed by the sexier names the Redskins selected during the draft, but watch out for Holcomb. Another great value at a position with paper-thin depth. He's athletic enough to cover in space, and that athleticism should translate well to Special Teams. I'd be surprised if he's on the field much as a rookie, but I would not be surprised if he develops into a reliable starter one day. Solid pick. Overall Grade: B
Kelvin Harmon: One of my favorite picks in this draft. Harmon is big, physical and has great hands. How he lasted all the way until the 6th round is beyond me. Not the fastest guy in the world, but he checks all the other boxes for what you'd like to see in an NFL WR prospect. He'll have a shot to push for early playing time, and should present whomever the starting QB winds up being with a great jump-ball target in the red zone. Overall Grade: A
Jimmy Moreland: A local prospect out of James Madison University, Moreland has already flashed his ability during off-season training. He was a pest during OTAs, and managed to pick off a half dozen or so passes throughout. He should make the team, but there is a steep learning curve at the position, especially for a smaller school prospect. Overall Grade: A
Jordan Brailford: He's a project, no doubt, and struggled to stay healthy during college, but he had a very productive season during his junior year at Oklahoma State and he's got decent enough measurables. Brailford will likely be a bubble 53-man/practice squad guy, but he could develop into a rotational player if he's able to stay healthy. Overall Grade: C

Other Offseason Notes:

Fairly quiet outside of the Collins splash signing and the stellar draft, but there's some looming danger because Trent Williams, arguably the top talent on the team let alone its best offensive lineman, is threatening to never play for the team again (*allegedly*). It's all very murky, but apparently, it's a result of the team's mishandling of a non-cancerous tumor on Williams' head. Hopefully, it all blows over and he reports to camp, but a situation worth monitoring. Another buzzkill came when news broke that Reuben Foster tore an ACL on one of the first plays of mini-camp, leaving us back at square one in terms of starting ILB.

Projected Starting Lineup:

QB1: Dwayne Haskins
QB2: Case Keenum
QB3: Colt McCoy
Injured: Alex Smith

This may go against conventional wisdom, but as I stated in the draft re-cap, I have a lot of faith in Haskins to come out and win the job. His physical skill set is vastly superior to either Keenum or McCoy, so the lone roadblock standing in his way is the learning curve. However, Haskins has a strong reputation for putting in extra hours in the film room, as well as for being the first one in and the last one out at the practice facility. Keenum is a very experienced veteran, though, so I wouldn't be too shocked to see him beat Haskins out for the starting job (at least for the first few weeks of the season). This battle is definitely worth monitoring as Training Camp goes along. I don't think Colt McCoy will outshine either Keenum or Haskins despite his immense knowledge of Gruden's playbook. He'll definitely make the team, but I'd be shocked if he came out on top of the QB depth chart by the time it's all said and done, especially since he's still working his way back from additional ankle surgeries that were not made public until fairly recently.

RB1: Derrius Guice

Guice has the potential to be the shining star in this offense. He teased us with his talents during the last pre-season before suffering a heartbreaking ACL injury that wound up costing him the entire 2018-19 season. Although he recently tweaked his hamstring, that doesn't sound like anything major and all indications are that he should be good to go midway through training camp. The sky is the limit for this potential stud. One thing is for certain, though: the fanbase will definitely be pulling for him. Few players in team history have been more actively engaged with fans than Guice has during his short stint with the team thus far.

RB2: Adrian Peterson

In the event that Guice cannot stay healthy, fear not! Adrian Peterson, the ageless wonder, is waiting in the wings to take over as the starter. Even if Guice is healthy, there's definitely going to be a heavy split in carries between these two. And that's a good problem to have if you're the Redskins. Peterson defied all expectations last season and ended up being one of the few bright spots on an otherwise listless offense. No matter which guard the team had to sign off the street and insert into the lineup as a last-minute injury replacement, Peterson made it work. He showed the vision and patience he's been known for his entire career, but the most surprising thing was that he showed the burst and physicality he's historically been known for, as well.

RB3/Utility: Chris Thompson

It's almost unfair to list Thompson as the 3rd running back, since he's such a focal part of the offense as long as he's healthy. He's the prototypical receiving back, and he's primed to flourish in a featured role yet again. Gruden utilizes Thompson's abilities fantastically, drawing up creative plays to get the speedy scatback in 1-on-1 matchups with linebackers or safeties and that's where Thompson really shines. He was dinged up coming into last season, but he showed he's still got it multiple times last year nonetheless. He will be a nice luxury to have no matter who starts at quarterback, but particularly if Haskins wins the job coming out of camp.

WR1: Josh Doctson

Do or die time for this former first-rounder. Doctson has shown glimpses of becoming a consistent starter, and his route running ability definitely improved as the season progressed last year. But he has a long ways to go, and if he doesn't finally break out and develop into the weapon the team had envisioned when they invested a high draft pick into him, he'll be taking his talents elsewhere next season. I have him slotted as the starter by default, but it's worth noting, on most teams, he'd be a WR3. At Best.

WR2: Paul Richardson

Richardson was signed to fill in as an explosive playmaker, but injuries and the constant turnover at the QB position prevented us from seeing what Richardson is truly capable of last year. He's got a lot to prove if he ever wants to live up to the gargantuan contract he was given, though. He'll be worth keeping an eye on during camp to see how he meshes with the quarterbacks.

WR3: Terry McLaurin

Much like with Haskins, I'm very confident in McLaurin's chances to take advantage of the opportunity and work himself into a starting role in this offense. His speed will be a welcomed addition, and as long as he's able to use that to his advantage like he was able to do at Ohio State, he may well be one of the early surprises for the offense.

TE1: Jordan Reed

Another oft-injured star, Reed will need to prove that last season was simply a fluke and that he's ready to get back to his dominant ways at Tight End. He'll be a crucial piece in determining how successful Haskins will be if he's the starter. Hopefully, he develops a better rapport with whoever is under center this year than he did with Alex Smith. That was a big reason why he struggled mightily last year.

TE2: Vernon Davis

Much like the Guice and Peterson situation, Vernon Davis presents a nice alternative in the event that Jordan Reed struggles again this year. Davis is still a potent receiving threat, and accounted for some of the team's biggest plays last year. Don't expect anything different this year.

LT: Trent Williams

Perrenial pro-bowler, mauler, leader, and the heart and soul of the offense if not the team altogether, Trent Williams is vital to the Redskins. Despite holding out for the moment, most insiders believe he'll be back Week 1 even if he holds out for the duration of Training Camp. If he decides to sit for any portion of the regular season, it will prove difficult for the Redskins to have any chance of success.

LG: Tony Bergstrom

Yeah, I don't really know much about him, either. He's the starter by default, and the only reason this is a good thing is because his name is not Ereck Flowers.

C: Chase Roullier

One of the quietest solid performers on this team. Roullier is solid, but not spectacular. He's proven capable at Center, though, and there's certainly something to be said for that.

RG: Brandon Scherff

This is a baaad man. Despite a suffering a torn pec last year, Scherff has otherwise been healthy and consistent since the Redskins spent a top 5 pick on him. Since then, he's been an absolute monster on the line and is definitely the second most talented lineman trailing only Trent Williams. He's fun to watch when he's healthy, as he has such a massive nasty streak in him and always finishes blocks with authority.

RT: Morgan Moses

Rarely does Moses get the appreciation he deserves, but he's definitely been a blessing to have at Right Tackle. Most weeks you'll hardly notice he's there, and that's a good thing, since it typically means he's keeping his assignment at bay. He's a huge asset for the team, and one of the few linemen we've got who is able to stay on the field week in and week out.

LDE: Jonathan Allen

Jon Allen has lived up to the hype and then some after falling to the Redskins in the draft two years ago. Since then, he's gotten better each and every week and has been an absolute terror for opposing teams to block. Allen is one of the key pieces in the strongest position group on the team. If he, Da'Ron Payne and Matt Ionnidis are all able to stay on the field together, they'll be fun to watch this season.

NT: Da'Ron Payne

Finally, the massive presence the Redskins have been searching for since transitioning to a 3-4 defense under Mike Shanahan back in 2010. Payne was a nightmare at times during last season, and his otherworldly strength helped prevent the Redskins from giving up the huge run plays as frequently as they had in seasons prior. Payne added an unexpected element to the pass rush last season, as well, finishing with 5 sacks on the year. Payne is one of several emerging stars that the Redskins have on their defensive line, and it should prove to be one of the strongest position groups on the team.

RDE: Matt Ionnidis

As mentioned previously, the defensive line is one of the most promising position groups that the Redskins have, and Matt Ionnidis is one of the most promising members of that unit. When he was drafted out of Temple, expectations were not very high for Ionnidis. He put up a solid number of bench reps at the combine, but his other measurables were mediocre at best. Luckily, the Redskins' scouting staff did their homework and obviously saw something in his game that made them overlook his pedestrian combine because ever since he joined the team, Ionnidis has steadily improved and may very well be the most formidable lineman that the Redskins have. If you haven't paid specific attention to him before, make a point to do so next time you watch a Redskins game. You'll surely be able to see why the Redskins decided to sign him to an extension this offseason.

ROLB: Montez Sweat

What an acquisition for the Redskins. They traded up with the Indianapolis Colts to take Sweat with the 26th overall pick, and according to several reports, they were thrilled to have the opportunity to do so, as several members of the staff were pushing to draft Montez Sweat with the 15th overall pick. Sweat will step in and start day 1, barring an unforeseen improvement from projected backup Ryan Anderson. Jay Gruden has been singing Sweat's praises early and often ever since he was drafted, and he should prove to be a Defensive Rookie of the Year candidate if all goes according to plan.

ILB: Mason Foster

Foster is a decent Inside Linebacker, but he can be a liability at times. He struggles to cover opposing tight ends without help, and his lack of strength and explosiveness hurt his effectiveness in the run game as well. He is definitely a borderline starter, and on most teams, he would more than likely be a backup. However, due to Reuben Foster's season-ending injury during one of the first plays of OTA's, Foster will return for another season as the Redskins' starting interior linebacker.

ILB: Shaun Dion Hamilton

SDH is a bit of a wild card selection to start at ILB alongside Mason Foster, but I give him the edge to win the job based on the fact that he was given the opportunity to start towards the end of last season. He's very raw, but he showed some promise last season and he at least has the range to cover receivers in space, but that will require him to develop the instincts needed to be an effective pass defender. He could wind up becoming a nice surprise, but he's got a long ways to go in order to get there. Due to the lack of depth at inside linebacker, though, Hamilton should get a lot of first-team reps in camp, so it will be apparent very early on whether or not he's up to the task of being a starter. If he's not, the Redskins will struggle yet again to get off the field on 3rd downs.

LOLB: Ryan Kerrigan

Where to even begin with Kerrigan? He's got it all, and he's been at the top of his game for a number of years now. He's hands down the best player on this defense, and he's very quietly turned into one of the most formidable pass rushers in the entire league. He has a plethora of pass rush moves, and he uses all of his moves phenomenally. He's also one of the most reliable players on the team year in and year out, and has done a great job at staying healthy up to this point. Kerrigan should continue to produce at a Pro Bowl or All-Pro level, especially now that he's paired with a formidable pass rusher in Montez Sweat on the other side.

CB1: Josh Norman

Norman is a big personality and certainly a capable player, but he's never really lived up to the massive contract he was given following his exile from Carolina. Still, he's a highly talented cornerback capable of shutting down an opponent's top receiver on his good days. That's the problem, though. He's great on his good days, but he can be aggravating to watch on his bad days. He definitely played well more consistently last year than he had in years prior, and he'll have to continue to play consistently if the Redskins are going to be a competitive team in 2019-20. They need him to find the form he had with Carolina, because there is no other shutdown-caliber talent on the roster as it currently stands.

CB2: Quinton Dunbar

Quinton Dunbar was one of the biggest disappointments of last season. He entered as one of the most unexpected surprises in recent memory, working his way up from being an undrafted wide receiver in 2015 all the way to becoming the unquestioned starting cornerback alongside Josh Norman a few seasons later. His struggles last season could have certainly been the result of a nagging nerve injury, though, and according to the team he's since recovered from the lingering injury and is primed to come back this year fully healthy. If he's right, Dunbar is a good corner who can be great at times. He's 6'2" with long arms, making him an imposing physical presence, especially when matched up against smaller receivers. He's a solid bump and run type guy and he's proven capable of holding his own in one on one matchups on the outside.

CB3: Greg Stroman:

Stroman got a trial by fire last season, as the former seventh-round pick was forced into significant playing time due to several injuries in the Redskins' defensive backfield. He performed about like you'd expect a rookie would when forced into a prominent role early on, and he had his fair share of hiccoughs. But his game began to rapidly improve towards the end of the season, and he ended up ranking fifth among all rookie DBs according to Pro Football Focus. He might get picked on a bit until he proves himself some more, but as long as he continues to develop like he did last season he should be fine.

SS: Landon Collins

Landon Collins adds an element to the Redskins' defense that they have been severely lacking for a long, long time. He's by far the highest caliber safety they've had since Sean Taylor. He's not perfect, however, as he struggles at times in pass defense, but Collins should improve the Redskins' defensive unit overall nonetheless. He's extremely physical and imposing and does not hesitate to initiate violent contact with opposing players.

FS: Deshazor Everett

Everett is okay, and that's being pretty generous. The Redskins desperately need to address the Free Safety position sometime very soon, though, or there will be consequences. Everett can lay the lumber, but he's average at best in basically every other aspect of the position.

K: Dustin Hopkins

Kicks the ball into the endzone on kickoffs, and makes most of his Field Goal attempts. What else do you need from a kicker?

P: Tress Way

Perrenial Pro Bowl snub, and a legitimate stud. Also gets a lot of practice thanks to a lackluster offense that never seems to be able to drive into scoring range.

KR: Greg Stroman

Decent, but replaceable.

PR: Greg Stroman

Yet again, decent, but replaceable.

Position Group Strengths and Weaknesses

Strengths:

Pass Rushers: The Redskins' pass rush is loaded with first-round picks, and their investment in improving the pass rush is starting to really evolve into something special. This year should be no different, with Kerrigan and Sweat on the outside and Jon Allen, Da'Ron Payne and Matt Ionnidis starting on the inside. This group will be exciting, and will need to be in order for the Redskins to finish the year with a respectable record.
Backfield: The Redskins already had a pretty solid trio going with Derrius Guice, Adrian Peterson and Chris Thompson and they just added Bryce Love, who is one year removed from a ridiculous 2,000 yard rushing season at Stanford, to the mix. As long as the line can stay healthy (unlike last year), this group should be very effective. They'll have to be, too, because there isn't much talent anywhere else on the offense.

Weaknesses:

Pass Catchers: The Redskins are paper-thin at wide receiver. The fact that Josh Doctson is being viewed as their #1 receiver gives me heartburn to even think about. There has been a void at receiver ever since DeSean Jackson and Pierre Garcon left. This group needs help, and it's unclear if they found anyone able to help during this offseason.
Quarterback: Haskins is exciting, but he's still a rookie and expectations must be adjusted accordingly.

Schedule Prediction

Week 1: Washington @ Philadelphia
Not an ideal way to begin the season. The Redskins will be heavy underdogs coming into this game, and for good reason. Never say never, but it'll definitely take a herculean effort to come out of this matchup victorious. I simply don't see it happening. Philly takes this one, and probably with ease.
Projected Outcome: Loss (0-1)

Week 2: Dallas @ Washington
Luckily the Redskins catch a break after they had to face a division rival on the road in Week 1, right? Guess not... This is a brutal way to open the season, and much like the week prior, everything will have to align perfectly for the Redskins to have a chance to emerge victoriously. They will have to play mistake-free football to knock off the Cowboys in the 2019-20 home opener, and I just don't see that happening. I'd love to be wrong, but for now, I see the Cowboys taking this one in ugly fashion.
Projected Outcome: Loss (0-2)

Week 3: Chicago @ Washington
Is this some sort of sick joke, Goodell? As if back to back division games weren't bad enough, the Redskins have to face the extremely formidable Chicago Bears. Khalil Mack probably has this game highlighted on his calendar already, because he very well might just break the single-game sack record. The Bears are a matchup nightmare for the Redskins, and I'd be shocked if the 'Skins weren't double-digit home underdogs coming into this game. I don't see any way the Redskins pull off the upset here.
Projected Outcome: Loss (0-3)

Week 4: Washington @ New York Giants
Cool, as if the first three weren't brutal enough, why not add in another division road game in Week 4?! The Redskins have historically struggled in New York, but I have a sneaky feeling they'll right the ship and eek out a win thanks to Eli Manning throwing 4 picks or so and gifting the Redskins their first victory on the year.
Projected Outcome: Win (1-3)

Week 5: New England @ Washington
Oh boy... this is truly a merciless way to start a season. However, they pulled it once upon a time when New England came to town. So I'm going to go against all logic here, and instead of following my brain which tells me New England will make this one look like a spring practice and crush the Skins' soul, I'm going to listen to my gut that is telling me crazier things have happened and predict that the Redskins win this one. I'll reiterate, though, this is based on no logic. But miracles do happen.
Projected Outcome: Win (2-3)

Week 6: Washington @ Miami
Naturally, since I'm predicting the Redskins pull off a gargantuan upset in their week 5 matchup with New England, they'll inevitably follow that up with a mind-boggling loss against Miami. It's the Redskins way- take one step forward and four steps back. This would be a perfect opportunity for the Redskins to crush any and all momentum they'd built by beating the Patriots, and I'd bet my life's savings that they'd embrace the opportunity to let everyone down by actually losing.
Projected Outcome: Loss (2-4)

Week 7: San Francisco @ Washington
Ew, what a terrible matchup. I'm frankly shocked this one isn't being played in London it's such a lackluster matchup. Anyways, back on task, this game will definitely be low scoring and ugly. Since San Francisco is traveling to FedEx instead of the other way around, I'll take Washington in this one. The only certainty, however, is that this game will be painful to watch.
Projected Outcome: Win (3-4)

Week 8: Washington @ Minnesota
The Redskins will yet again be heavy underdogs coming into this one, but I am not intimidated by the Vikings at all. The key to this game will be coming into it with an above .500 record, though, since Kirk Cousins is physically incapable of succeeding against an above-.500 team. Since I'm projecting the Redskins to enter this matchup at 3-4, I have to go with the Vikings here. Jokes aside, the Vikings are loaded at the skill positions as well as along their defensive front seven, and I just don't see how the Redskins will be able to overcome the numerous mismatches they'll have against the Vikings. Even with Kirk Cousins' self-righteous, turnover-prone-self playing quarterback for Minnesota, they still come out on top in this one.
Projected Outcome: Loss (3-5)

Week 9: Washington @ Buffalo
The Redskins aren't more talented on paper than many teams in the league, but one of the teams you could make the case for having less talent than Washington would be Buffalo. The Redskins should win this one, but it'll definitely be close. Still, the Redskins should win a one-possession game here.
Projected Outcome: Win (4-5)

Week 10: BYE

Week 11: New York Jets @ Washington
Coming off the bye week, the Redskins should be able to play well against an up and coming Jets team. It's for that very reason that I'm confident they'll come out totally flat, and sleepwalk their way into an ugly loss.
Projected Outcome: Loss (4-6)

Week 12: Detroit @ Washington
After an inexplicable home loss to the Jets in the previous week, the Redskins should bounce back nicely against the Lions. Definitely not a sure thing, but I'm thinking the Redskins pick up their most convincing victory of the season in this game. They've got enough talent to rattle Stafford, and if Stafford isn't allowed to get in a groove early, he is prone to meltdowns. That's exactly what I see happening.
Projected Outcome: Win (5-6)

Week 13: Washington @ Carolina
The Redskins played extremely well against Carolina last season, but I don't see that happening again. Cam goes off, and the Panthers beat the Redskins handily.
Projected Outcome: Loss (5-7)

Week 14: Washington @ Green Bay
Yet another one of the Redskins' most impressive games from last season was against Green Bay, but that was early in the season and at home. December in Green Bay, however? That's a tough draw. It'll be close, but Aaron Rodgers avenges last year's defeat and leads the Packers to a win late.
Projected Outcome: Loss (5-8)

Week 15: Philadelphia @ Washington
More than likely, the Redskins will be out of contention and the Eagles will be very much in contention by the time this game rolls around. We saw what happened last year under those circumstances: a total takeover of FedEx Field by Philly fans. Odds are, the same thing will happen this year. Philly takes care of business, and Washington's tailspin continues.
Projected Outcome: Loss (5-9)

Week 16: New York Giants @ Washington
After three straight losses, the Redskins find a way to beat a Giants team now being lead by the astonishingly mediocre Daniel Jones. And for once, they beat a team they are better than by a large margin.
Projected Outcome: Win (6-9)

Week 17: Washington @ Dallas
Somehow or another, I think the Redskins scrap out a win here, as well, ending the season on a high note. Or just high enough of a note to keep us fans clinging on to the belief that the Redskins are still worth paying attention to. Even if Dallas is playing all of their starters, I still see the Redskins going toe to toe with them and ending the year positively.
Projected Outcome: Win (7-9)

Season Outcome: 7-9, 3rd place in the NFC East, 13th overall draft pick

Training Camp Battles to Watch

Quarterback: This will be a hotly contested position battle, especially in the early days of training camp. Most likely, Keenum, Haskins and McCoy will start out splitting first team reps until somebody emerges. I'm of the opinion that Haskins will beat out the veterans and become the unquestioned starter by the end of camp, but there's definitely potential for a different outcome.
Cornerback: Norman will definitely be the #1 on the team, but all the other spots are wide open. With plenty of young talent and hungry players on the roster, this should be exciting to watch. My money is on Quinton Dunbar to come out as the #2 with Stroman beating out Moreau for the #3 spot.
Wide Receiver: Sure, it's not the most talented position on the team. But there are some enticing players that have the chance to emerge. Cam Sims is often overlooked, but he really showed a lot of promise during camp last year and he may be able to turn enough heads again this year to win a more prominent spot with the team. What I'm really curious to see is whether or not one of the rookie draft picks will be able to push Josh Doctson and Paul Richardson for the starting spots. Richardson proves himself, I think, but Doctson? That could be very intriguing to see if he's able to definitively prove himself over either Harmon or McLaurin.

Offensive Scheme: West Coast Offense

Defensive Scheme: 3-4/4-2-5 Hybrid

Far off Anniversaries in Baseball: 1919

Welcome back to a resuscitated /baseball recurring series, (far off) Anniversaries in Baseball. The premise is simple: time, like baseball, is a flowing stream, that changes much less than we like to think it does. This series is about reflecting and remembering upon baseball events, or jerks, and real-world intrusions that made up a certain year exactly a few decades away. I attempt to convey this by merging primary and secondary sources through a variety of mediums to paint a portrait of the season in review. For the next few weeks, until the end of 2019, we will be drawing our thoughts back to ’19, ’29, ’39, ’49, ’59 to better understand our shared past and our sublimely important present- I ask you to join me on a quest through time to preserve a precious perspective and I hope you enjoy the series. Please include any feedback or thoughts in the comments section.
This particular issue is going to factor in a bit more "World History" than the others, simply because of the disastrous tone the year 1919 took was reflected on in the baseball season.
World Leaders: (There really wasn’t any population estimates because the war had ended two months prior, so here’s where the lines were drawn)
Winners:
*England *:Prime Minister David L. George
United States of America: Woodrow Wilson
France: President of the Council of Ministers Georges Clemenceau
Italy: Prime Minister Francesco S. Nitti
Canada: Prime Minister Robert Borden
Cuba: Governor Mario G. Menocal
Losers:
Russia: Supreme Ruler Alexander V. Kolchak
Weimar Republic: SDS Leader and President Friedrich Ebert
Ottoman Empire: Mehmed VI
Others:
China: President Xu Scichang, Beiyang government
Japan: Emperor Yoshihito
Mexico: President Venustiano C. Garza
Persia: Shah Qajar
January- March:
We have another New Year’s Day baby, when Sol and Marie Sallinger first met their infant, Jerome David on Manhattan Island. Later that week, former President Theodore Roosevelt died on the 6th. Future HoF’er James Henry “Orator Jim” O’ Rourke died two days later on the 8th in Bridgeport, CT of pneumonia contracted while walking home from a consultation appointment one week earlier. He played baseball for 23 years and is credited with the first NL hit while holding a law degree from Yale.. He started playing semi-pro ball only three years after the Civil War and by 1877 he was hitting .362 in the NL. On the 16th of that same month, The U.S. congress ratified prohibition which would take effect one year from that day. More importantly to the geo-political landscape of the world, on the 18th the Paris Peace Conference opened, tasked with sorting out the horrific formalities of The Great War, having been recently decided with the United States’ last-minute entrance. The date was symbolic, according to dispatch from the Guardian:

The great conference was formally opened at the Quai d’Orsay, yesterday on the 48th anniversary of that scene, so calamitous to Europe, when the German Empire was proclaimed at Versailles on the eve of the capitulation of Paris. If anyone had chanced to be present at both ceremonies, he would have been struck by a sense of contrast. The meeting in the Galerie des Glaces gave birth to a new order which has been a fatal burden to Europe. The meeting at the Quai d’Orsay is to give birth to a new order to which all mankind is looking for freedom and peace.

On the 20th, the group of representatives from more than two dozen countries began discussing punishments for the “warmongering” Kaiser, without Germany. The Conference was buzzing along through its second week on Jan. 31, when in Cairo, GA, sharecroppers Mallie and Jerry Robinson were honored with the birth of their fifth child, who they named after the recently deceased president: Jack Roosevelt Robinson. Six days later, on February 5th, four of the largest movie-picture stars in America: Douglas Fairbanks, Charlie Chaplin, D.W. Griffin and Mary Pickford created and agreed to the United Artists Corporation, in an attempt to control their artwork and profits more directly. There was no block booking for the new movie studio, and the actors and directors themselves controlled much of the common stock. That same day, in the National League offices, the Cincinnati Reds were making a case of corruption against a former player, Hal Chase. He was accused all throughout baseball for throwing games to his gambler friends while leading the league in hitting with .339 in his first year in Cincinnati, 1916. What triggered this hearing? Several Reds reported to their manager, Christy Mathewson, that they had seen or overheard Chase discuss his bets on the team. The NL president decided the suit when Mathewson was still serving in France:

"The testimony shows that Chase acted in a careless manner, both on the field and among the players, and that the club was justified in bringing the charges, in view of the many rumors which arose from the loose talk of the first baseman. In substance, the player was charged with making wagers against his club in games in which he participated. In justice to Chase, I feel bound to state that both the evidence and the records of the games to which reference was made, fully refute this accusation."

On Feb. 19th, the Reds traded him to the Giants and he signed his contract the day his old manager Christy Mathewson was named their assistant manager. On Feb. 25th, the state of Oregon created the first gas tax in U.S. history of a penny. On that same day in Haleburg Alabama, 81 miles west of Cairo, Monford Merrill “Monte” Irvin awoke to his first day of life. Only a few hours later on the 26th, President Wilson signed Senate Bill 390 which designated the Grand Canyon as a national park. Almost a month later, on March 23rd, Benito Mussolini founded the Italian fascist movement as a direct response to post-WWI turmoil. At this point in the year, however, spring was busting open and baseball was beginning to unveil itself again. The only problem was- baseball had taken such a hit in 1918: the “work or fight” movement derailed the season and it prematurely concluded with an almost false-World Series. This year, the season would be cut to 140 games and every owner lost money in the process. Still, many teams traveled to the south per usual for spring training. The Yankees and Tigers to Macon, GA, the Indians to New Orleans, the Red Sox to Tampa. The Phillies to Charlotte, the Robins to Jacksonville, the Pirates to Birmingham, the Braves to Columbus, GA and the Giants to Gainesville. While the Cardinals and A’s stayed put in the home parks, most of the rest of the teams settled in Texas, which was once the hot spot for Spring Training but was now losing its popularity. Still, the Reds showed up to Waxahachie, the O’s to San Antonio and the White Sox to the fabled health center, Mineral Wells. Their offseason was turbulent:

No one was quite sure how Gleason’s team would fare in the pennant race. The White Sox’ lack of pitching depth behind Eddie Cicotte and Lefty Williams was cited as a major concern by Chicago Tribunereporter Irving Sanborn, who predicted on April 20, “Unless he has a lot of luck developing new pitchers … (Gleason) is going to have a hard time keeping his team in the first division of the American League.” Veteran Red Faber, who had won three games in the 1917 World Series, was hampered by arm and ankle injuries, and he had come down with the flu virus and could not shake it. A global influenza epidemic had killed more than 600,000 Americans in the winter of 1918-19 alone. Faber’s condition was noticeably weak during spring training and it took him all year to fully recover.

How could we get into this much of 1919 without commenting on the global pandemic gripping the world: the Spanish flu virus? The world’s first wide war had given humanity an unwanted gift: bird flu, the H1N1 virus. Why call it the Spanish flu virus? Because the pandemic arose during the war, any country fighting censored reports of the disease, leaving neutral countries like Spain to wonder what was going on. No one knows where it started, but some estimates say 3-5% of the world’s population died. 10-20% of humanity was infected, including 28% of the American population. The worst year was 1918, but with the political instability the Great War had caused, the chaos of human civilization was seeping into baseball. As we would see, the White Sox would be in the center of a troubled, shaky world. Before teams departed from Spring training, a man put in the ground work to his legend. Red Sox two-way player George H. Ruth was on the starting nine for the Boston club in an exhibition game in Tampa, where he hit an estimated 587 ft. home run. Ruth and dingers this year would be a common theme, but this homer resonated far after his career was over- and this was important because Ruth had just ended a hold out with the Boston front office.
PLAY BALL!:
Until the 19 of April, 1919, Sunday baseball in New York was illegal. Governor Al Smith signed a bill repealing the blue laws, which opened up a new wave of passion for the national pastime on Sundays, when workers have the day off and are able to attend games. The president of the NL, Mr. Heydler, said:

I feel sure that baseball will have one of the greatest revivals in the history of the sport during the coming season, and I expect to see 1919 prove to be one of our banner years. I make this prediction more as a lover of baseball than as a baseball official… I believe the public can look forward to one of the most interesting seasons it has ever known.

144 years to the day after the Lexington and Concord skirmishes that started the rebellion, the season got under way. The Robins completed a sweep of their twinbill against the Braves- the rest of the teams got underway on that Wednesday the 23rd. One week later, if you had awoke in America to inspect the standings, you would see the 6-1 White Sox at the top of the AL and the undefeated 6-0 Reds at the top of the NL. You would have seen another full slate of games for that day: the Robins and Phillies tied a wild 20 inning game, where both starters (HoF) Burleigh Grimes and Joe Oeschger went the distance. Oeschger yielded 24 hits and only got two punchouts. Both teams scored 3 runs in the 19th before home plate umpire (HoF) Bill Klem called the game. But over the past few days in America, anarchists sent sticks of dynamite to the residences of prominent anti-labor and conservative politicians, specifically designed to coincide with May Day. The governor of Mississippi, Theodore G. Bilbo, the Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson, the police commissioner and mayor of NYC, John D. Rockefeller, Chicago District Judge Kennesaw Mountain Landis and Attorney General A. Mitchell Palmer, among others. The country was horrified --) would the violence and revolts that were racking Germany seep into America? Fear spread like air throughout the country and the government quickly rounded up suspects.
Only two days after May Day, a composer and his violinist wife welcomed their son, Peter Seeger, into the world in Manhattan. Three days later, on the 6th, the Yanks lineup featured leadoff hitter and 24-year old rookie George Halas in a game against the 3-7 A’s. Halas got 4 PA’s before being removed for a pinch hitter and got his first hit in the Yankee loss. Rambling through the days to the 11th, Halas was still in the leadoff spot for a matchup against the Senators. Walter Johnson and Jack Quinn each went 12 innings- and Halas collected 2 of Johnson’s 9 K’s that day. In fact, Johnson gave up a double in the first and put down the next 28 batters until surrendering a leadoff single in the 11th. The game ended locked at 0 because of a curfew, but at least they were able to play the game after the disappearance of the blue laws. Johnson’s masterpiece was not the most amazing pitching performance of the day. The Reds were sitting in second place when they took on the bottom-feeding Cardinals. The game went by uneventfully in the first inning just before player-manager Rogers Hornsby led off the second with a walk. He was thrown out trying to steal second, and Reds starter used that momentum to only give up two more walks the entire game, achieving a no hitter in the process. This was the first no hitter at Crosley Field and Eller used his shine ball to baffle the Cards, according to this thought provoking look back.. On May 20th, the 9-8 Red Sox ran out onto the field of Sportsman Park to play the Browns. In the second inning, the first three Sox hitters Harry Hooper, Jack Barry and Amos Strunk all reached base.. Their teammate, Babe Ruth, socked a ball over the fence for his first career grand slam, to put his club ahead 4-0, his second regular season dinger of 1919.
JUNE:
A month had passed, but the red scare was just beginning with more dynamite sticks flying into unsuspecting residences. The next wave of anarchist strikes occurred on the 2 with larger bombs arriving at judges and mayors’ doorsteps, as well as a second bomb directed at AG Palmer, each carrying this message:

War, Class war, and you were the first to wage it under the cover of the powerful institutions you call order, in the darkness of your laws. There will have to be bloodshed; we will not dodge; there will have to be murder: we will kill, because it is necessary; there will have to be destruction; we will destroy to rid the world of your tyrannical institutions.

Palmer was not home when the pipe bomb went off. His neighbors across the street, Franklin and Elenore Roosevelt, walked past his door moments before the explosion and were only feet away from serious injury. Roosevelt was the assistant secretary to the Navy, tasked by Palmer to root out “homosexual behaviors” in the navy. FDR did this by arresting and trying veterans for sodomy. Roosevelt began expanding the illegal investigation harshly and was rebuked by Palmer, who shut down the investigation.. The calls of violent mayhem were not just coming from inside the house. Mexican revolution leader Francisco “Pancho” Villa organized an attack on nationalist forces in Ciudad Juarez, which his godson carried out at his wishes on the evening of the 14th. As the bullets hit buildings in nearby El Paso, the United States army got nervous and invaded Juarez to calm down tensions. Two American citizens were killed and over 90 Mexican soldiers and civilians died. One day after the tensions subsided, on the 17th, the New York Giants (30-14) prepared to play the Chicago Cubs (25-21) at Weeghman Field. Cubs ace Pete Alexander notched a win after giving up two runs to the Giants in the second. Hal Chase was playing at first and got a hit but was removed for a pinch hitter in the late innings. This would be the major league debut of Frankie Frisch. Strikes, bombs and violence was not just the new normal in Mexico and America at this drawn out summer of 1919. Back in mid-May, the entire population of Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, went on strike. The population wanted more worker protections and a better life. The strike surged until the leaders of it found themselves behind bars on the same day Frisch made his debut. On the 21st, Canadian soldiers began a silent parade on main street and were met by Mounties with pistols, who unloaded their ammunition into the crowd, wounding 30. These battles between common folk and police, revolutionary leaders and military soldiers were occurring all over the world as the general population waited for the countries to settle their differences in Paris. All throughout this year, this season, the grand leaders sat in rooms hashing out the new world order and as you can imagine, this was quite an exclusively elusive bunch. A former baker from a Boston hotel, born in French Indochina and living in London, co-wrote a letter to the assembly asking them to attend on behalf of their home nation. He was Vietnamese and argued for the creation of a country under the yoke of French occupation, one of several foreign entities that had invaded and tried to control their countryside. In fact, the man who called himself Nguyen Ai Quac showed up at the conference and demanded to speak to President Wilson!. This did not happen and Nguyen the Patriot would find different political idols in France- communists. On the 28th, the leaders emerged from their comfy halls of power to alert their subjects that they had agreed on terms and at the suggestion of Woodrow Wilson, established the “League of Nations”. Wilson embarked on a vigorous campaign to convince the isolationist country to join the world powers.
JULY:
On the 28th of the former month, Brooklyn’s Ed Konetchy went 3-3 in his plate appearances. In fact, he got a hit every single plate appearance until the 1st, when hit his 10th straight baseball in 10 tries at the box, setting the major league record for consecutive hits. Four days later, on the fifth, was Halas’s last PA in baseball. A hip injury forced his retirement but he continued playing semi-pro baseball and football back home in Ohio. He got a day job at a starch manufacturer, A.E. Staley. He served in sales and ran the company football team, the Decatur Staleys and by 1922 coach George Halas was guiding the Chicago Bears through the infant seasons of the NFL. One day after Halas left the stage, Chicago Cubs president/manager Fred Mitchell gave up his job of controlling the business side of his roster to his VP, William Veeck Sr., a former sportswriter. Veeck would transform the team with shrewd moves, partnered with the infant radio industry and he brought his son, William Veeck Jr., along with him. The Chicago they lived and worked in was not cheerful or peaceful. As soldiers burst back into domestic life, black soldiers began questioning the Jim Crow system that terrorized them at home. Back in May, NAACP co-founder W.E.B. DuBois published an essay, “Returning Soldiers”--) and scolded the status quo which supported lynching and encouraged ignorance. He ended with a call to arms:

This is the fatherland for which we fought! But it is our fatherland. It was right for us to fight. The faults of our country are our faults. Under similar circumstances, we would fight again. But by God of Heaven, we are cowards and jackasses if now that the war is over, we do not marshal every ounce of our brain and brawn to fight a sterner, longer, more unbending battle against the forces of hell in our own land.
We return
We return from fighting
We return fighting
Make way for Democracy! We saved it in France, and by the Great Jehovah, we will save it in the United States of America, or know the reason why.

By 1919, the rest of the country was tightly segregated but Chicago, mostly, was not. Beaches along Lake Michigan were, and that’s where we go on the 27th. The White Sox were 6 games up in first place, the Cubs had Pete Alexander toeing the bump and a unknown white attacker on a beach in Chicago stoned a black swimmer to death. America’s common man poet, Carl Sandburg, wrote an essay about the race riots that ensued and ripped the city apart. A major societal trend was occurring- African Americans were leaving the Black Belt in the South, which they had clung to since Emancipation, for better job opportunities in the industrial north. Sandburg reported on what we call now the “Great Migration”, and predicted the chaos earlier in the year. For a week, gangs of Irish citizens and rabble rousing racists donned blackface and lit up immigrant neighborhoods to stoke tension among the races. The mayor and the governor haggled over the specifics of sending the national guard as 23 African American citizens were hunted down and murdered. Gangs, like the Hamburg Athletic Club continued escalating the violence because they occupied south side neighborhoods stuck in the middle. History will never know for sure if Hamburg Athletic Club gangster, 17-year-old future mayor Richard Daley, took part in busting skulls of protesting African Americans.
AUGUST:
By the 4th, Chicago declared the riots had subsided. Now, the battle that occupied their time was in the National League Standings, where the Reds and Giants swung back and forth through the next few weeks. Twenty days later on the 24th, the 28-79 Athletics sent their abysmal hitters up to face the Cleveland Indians at League Park, against Ray Caldwell. The Indians scored twice in the fourth, around the time the foreboding sky started to emit rain and Caldwell waltzed out in the 5th and surrendered his only run. With two outs in the ninth, Caldwell needed one more out to end the game and bared down- when he was struck by lightning and knocked unconscious. A sportswriter described the scene:

“There was a blinding flash that seemed to set the diamond on fire and Caldwell was knocked flat from the shock of it.”

Caldwell came to, stood back up, and retired the last A’s hitter for the victory. This kept the Indians 8 games back of the White Sox, who were the first team to score over 500 runs. The next day, the 25th, in Clio, Alabama, George Corley Wallace Jr. entered the great stage of life.
SEPTEMBER-
Entering the 8th of this month, the defending pennant winning-Red Sox were squarely out of the race. Their bright young pitcher, Babe Ruth, was in his first year of a three-year pact and was slowly transitioning into an electrifying power hitter when he wasn’t pitching. He set the AL record in homers in July and on this day he set the major league record with his 26th homer, in the first game of a doubleheader against the Yankees in the Polo Grounds. Harry Hooper also hit his third home run. The 66-53 Yanks wouldn’t get much better luck later in the week, on Wednesday the tenth the red-hot Cleveland club came to town. Ray Caldwell, fresh after his run in with a bolt of electricity in the sky, got two quick supporting runs from his team in the top half of the first. He knocked in his second double of the season later in the game and was a walk away from a perfect game. Caldwell’s first no hitter occurred less than a month after being struck by lightning. Earlier back in the year, Giants manager John McGraw traveled to the Ohio farm of Harry F. “Slim” Sallee and offered him a contract. Sallee was focused on retirement but noted he would only play for a team close by, in this case, Cincinnati. McGraw walked away and watched as Sallee achieved great things as a control master lefty for the Reds. He even got his own day at the ballpark, for his start on the 21st. He threw 65 pitches in total and finished his complete game shutdown of the Giants in 55 minutes. Six days later on the 27th, the last Saturday of the regular season, Babe Ruth became the first AL hitter to homer in every park. The October matchup was already decided: White Sox vs. Reds.
POSTSEASON-
The White Sox were the best team in baseball, but their success originated from their clique-driven clubhouse. Team captain and superstar Eddie Collins, his future Cooperstown buddy Ray Schalk and others were well-paid and good at their jobs. The second half of the clubhouse- Eddie Cicotte, Happy Felsch and 1B Buck Weaver were culturally on a different planet. Weaver was underpaid, and in his search for money contacted a Boston bookie to place a bet against his own team. “According to the grand-jury testimony of Eddie Cicotte, his faction first began to discuss the feasibility of throwing the upcoming World Series during a train trip late in the regular season”. There was still the persistent rumor that the Cubs threw the previous World Series to Ruth’s Sox, and Hal Chase had escaped hot water over his close ties to gamblers. Lefty Williams and Joe Jackson joined the fix during the off days before the Series. Every player demanded their 10k share but only Cicotte got his before the series, which began on the first. At this point, according to “Eight Myths Out” from SABR,, the Chicago owner Charles Comiskey knew about the fix, as did famously connected gambler Arnold Rothstein and Hal Chase. Cicotte hit the first batter in the back as a signal that the fix was on. Here’s the footage. The Reds scored a run in that inning but Chicago answered it. In the fourth, Cicotte made a throwing error and the Reds ended the inning with five runs, eventually winning 9-1. The Reds won again the next day on Sallee’s masterful performance, to go up 2-0 and rolled into the south side of Chicago, still smoldering from the race riots earlier. Not all the cheating players had received their share and the White Sox had a rookie pitcher who was not in on the fix for game 3, so the club got their first series win. Eddie Cicotte was scheduled to start the next day, and after Jackson and Cicotte made obvious errors, the Reds went up 3-1. For what its worth, Cicotte would later mention he tried to win that game. All the White Sox went cold in October, going 26 innings without plating a run during the series. After a rain delay gave the teams their first off day, the Reds lost the next game 5-0. Jackson finally got support from his teammates the next game which led to a 5-4 White Sox win. Cicotte pitched up to snuff in game seven to give White Sox fans hope. Lefty Williams started game eight and gave up a four spot in the first. The Reds won 10-5 and their first World Series. Some writers and fans had questioned the White Sox for their sloppy errors and their owner Comiskey led an investigation that confirmed the truth. He buried the news, ruled Gandil ineligible and hoped no one would find the skeleton in his closet. This scandal would rock baseball to its core for generations and was one of the most famous events from this year with the faulty myths.
In that first week of October, however, throwing the World Series was not the only thing occurring behind closed doors. Woodrow Wilson crisscrossed the country to campaign for his League of Nations to see its ratification in the Senate. In April, he contracted H1N1 and his sickly picture of health and asthma loomed ominously. For days, Wilson [ignored his health and felt painful headaches](https://www.pbs.org/newshouhealth/woodrow-wilson-stroke). On the day of game two of the WS, he either got up from bed and collapsed or woke up to feel his left hand numb. It was a stroke- he was paralyzed on his left side. Partially blind in his right eye. Suffered a UTI infection three weeks later and another bout of influenza the next year. Just like the White Sox scandal, it would take months for the American public to get wind of just how serious it had been. Until then, his wife, Edith became the de-facto president, our first female executive. Her duties included, in her own words:

I studied every paper sent from the different Secretaries or Senators and tried to digest and present in tabloid form the things that, despite my vigilance, had to go to the President. I, myself, never made a single decision regarding the disposition of public affairs. The only decision that was mine was what was important and what was not, and the very important decision of when to present matters to my husband.

Would the chaos, the suffering, the pain of 1919 continue into the next decade? Was violence, corruption, disease and the lying be the new normal? Around this time, a young veteran in Germany, disillusioned with the ridiculous post-war society joined the German Workers Party. They convinced him to make his first public speech at the Hofbraukeller brewery in Munich on the 16th of October. According to Adolph Hitler, it was the Jews who were to blame for the 1919 post-war madness. Over one hundred brown shirts in the brewery latched on to Hitler’s ideas quickly and his public speaking scheduled increased as President Wilson attempted to regain his health after the stroke.
November-December
Historians would later call the summer of 1919 the “Red Scare”, where conservative forces in the government and its citizens lashed out against reformers, socialists, and African Americans with zeal as anarchists and foreign revolutions spread fear. AG Palmer had been a victim of the bombs earlier in the year. This August, he appointed 24-year-old J. Edgar Hoover to prosecute political threats from foreigners and leftists. Hoover forged a pact with local cops to conduct a raid on November 7th, as Wilson sat in bed. Many of the humans they arrested were later freed and Palmer drew condemnation for the raids that bear his name, if little of his actual handiwork. Jumping ahead to December 12, inching toward 1920, the major league owners met and decided to severely limit the use of the spitball, allowing two players on each roster to continue the practice. After the 1920 season, the number would go down to one, allowing several pitchers to be grandfathered in. Toward the end of the year world health officials celebrated the end of the Spanish Flu epidemic and as fans would learn in 1920, Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sent George H. “Babe” Ruth for a hundred thousand dollars and a 350-thousand-dollar loan for Frazee’s new Broadway play, tied to a mortgage on Fenway Park.
STANDINGS

AL team	W/L	pythag record	run diff
Chicago White Sox	88-52	84-56	1.0
Cleveland Indians	84-55	80-59	0.7
New York Yankees	80-59	78-61	0.5
Detroit Tigers	80-60	74-66	0.3
St. Louis Browns	67-72	66-73	-0.2
Boston Red Sox	66-71	70-67	0.1
Washington Senators	56-84	66-74	-0.3
Philadelphia A’s	36-104	41-99	-2.0

NL team	W/L	pythag record	run diff
Cincinnati Reds	96-44	92-48	1.
New York Giants	87-53	86-54	1.0
Chicago Cubs	75-65	77-63	0.3
Pittsburg Pirates	71-68	70-69	0
Brooklyn Robbins	69-71	71-69	0.1
Boston Braves	57-82	70-67	-0.7
St. Louis Cardinals	54-83	58-79	-0.6
Philadelphia Phillies	47-90	48-88	-1.4

STATS

Player	BA	OPS+	wRC+
Cobb, Ty	.384	166	161
Jackson, Joe	.351	159	157
Ruth, Babe	.322	217	203
Sisler, George	.352	156	151
Veach, Bobby	.355	158	152

Players Missing: Jack Tobin (.327 BA), "Baby Doll" Jacobson (.323) Henie Groh (157 wRC+).

Player	IP	WHIP	ERA
Adams, Babe	263.1	0.896	1.98
Alexander, Pete	235	0.928	1.72
Cicotte, Eddie	306.2	0.995	1.82
Johnson, Walter	290.1	0.985	1.49
Vaughn, Hippo	306.2	1.063	1.79

Players Missing: Jim Shaw (306.2 IP), Dutch Reuther (1.82 ERA), Jesse Barnes (295.2 IP, 1.008 WHIP), Lefty Williams (297 IP)

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A look ahead to West Brom

Villa:

West Brom:

Sam Allardyce

STATS

So what are your predictions, concerns, thoughts and bets for the match this weekend? How will Deano set the side up, and will Barkley be fit enough to start?

DWT20 (October 9th 2020)

What if... One-club men lived forever