St. Louis City broke records last season. By winning their first five matches, they enjoyed the strongest start of any expansion team in Major League Soccer history. They kept going too, ultimately finishing top of the Western Conference. Bradley Carnell’s team fell at the first hurdle in the play-offs, but the bar has been set exceptionally high for their second year in the league.
By Graham Ruthven
The way St. Louis City have taken to MLS, though, it would be foolish to bet against them surpassing their own standard this season. There is a clear vision at CityPark which has allowed Carnell and sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel to build a team – and a culture – that could sustain the club for years to come.
While some expansion teams have focused on attracting big names, St. Louis City have adopted a broader approach to squad construction. They signed players who could play the sort of high-energy, high-intensity football envisaged by Pfannenstiel whose background in the Bundesliga has given St. Louis City a German flavour.
Former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Burki enjoyed an excellent 2023 season while former Nürnberg midfielder Eduard Löwen was also a valuable contributor. Then there was former Hoffenheim attacker João Klauss who became St. Louis City’s main threat in attack, reaching double figures in his debut MLS season. There are five players with Bundesliga backgrounds in the squad at CityPark.
Scandinavia is another market favoured by St. Louis City with Tomas Totland and Nikolas Dyhr signed to operate in the full back positions ahead of the 2024 season. Good scouting and recruitment has been central to the club’s success and will have to remain so if St. Louis City are to stay competitive against big-budget teams like Inter Miami and Los Angeles FC.
Nicholas Gioacchini’s exit to Como in Serie B has opened up a spot in St. Louis City’s attack. There is also a vacant Designated Player place in the squad and so it’s possible another starting-level forward could be added before the start of the new season or in the summer transfer window when more options might be available.
Off the pitch, St. Louis City have arguably made an even bigger impact than they have on it. Football has been played in the Missouri city since the 19th century. Many consider St. Louis to be the cradle of the sport in the USA. It was something of an anomaly that the city had to wait so long to enter MLS.
CityPark is one of the loudest stadiums in MLS. St. Louis City sold out every home match they played last season and tickets will be just as hard to come by in 2024. “The moment I stepped out I had goosebumps,” said Löwen, recalling the atmosphere for the club’s home opener last year “You could tell the whole city was waiting for this moment for so long.”
There will be pitfalls for St. Louis City to avoid in their sophomore season. Last year, they had the element of surprise. Opponents didn’t know what to expect from the expansion team and that was clear in the way St. Louis City started their 2023 campaign, winning nine of their first 14 fixtures.
Qualifying for the CONCACAF Champions Cup was an achievement that warranted celebrating, but it will clog up St. Louis City’s schedule this year, certainly in the early part of the season – see how continental duties badly disrupted the Seattle Sounders in 2022 when they won just two of their opening eight MLS fixtures despite winning the CONCACAF Champions League.
Last season’s underlying numbers, however, suggest St. Louis City can achieve even more in 2024. They under-performed their Expected Goal Difference (XGD) by 7.5 goals – only the Colorado Rapids under-performed their XGD by more. If Carnell’s team can sharpen up in front of goal, they could be even more dangerous.
Competition in MLS will be stiff this season. Inter Miami have assembled the most talented squad in league history while the Columbus Crew are expected to be competitive again after winning MLS Cup. The foundations at St. Louis City, however, are as strong as any other team’s in the division. Their expansion season success might only be the start of something special.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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