St. Louis CITY SC have learned valuable lessons but will it be enough for a playoff push?
St. Louis CITY SC showed progress through this month's Leagues Cup campaign, but will it be enough to close the 10 point gap on the final playoff spot.
St. Louis CITY SC learned some lessons over the past 6 weeks, but will their new look attack, and strengthened wide defending, allow John Hackworth’s squad to close the gap on Minnesota above them? It’s a big gap, 10 points and 3 other clubs above them but there’s 0 doubt that CITY SC is best equipped of the clubs around them to close that gap.
A few months back that statement would have been delusional, but after months of tinkering, Lutz Pfannenstiel has a roster that should compete.
Pfannenstiel found options for AZ Jackson and Sam Adeniran after both took steps backward this season. He swapped Tim Parker on an expiring contract for the younger, more technical Henry Kessler. Found a spot for Anthony Markanich in Minnesota, while strengthening in every key area. Marcel Hartel, Cedric Teuchert, Simon Becher, and Jake Girdwood-Eeich have all shown that they’ll be impactful while Jannes Horn should finally give St. Louis a proven option at LB… as good as Jayden Reid has looked since earning a contract.
However, the club have dug a giant hole for themselves. They have to maximize each match with 27 points available, and hope that the clubs around them falter. They’ll have matches against Minnesota, San Jose, and Sporting KC to grab some separation but the rest of the road will be daunting.
Their win over Portland at CITYPARK last month will be under the spotlight as life in MLS resumes in Portland this weekend. St. Louis weren’t as sharp as they could be in their Round of 32 victory, and the Timbers looked largely uninterested, but now is when they have to prove it was a genuine result.
More uninterrupted training time should result in a more cohesive unit this weekend, buoyed by taking América to the limit in California before the Liga MX giants showed off their superior depth.
John Hackworth was beyond proud of his club’s fight, even as they were desperate for the win, “It's such an emotional moment, I mean I'm literally as upset as I can possibly be, and at the same time, I'm really proud of the way we played, for us to play the kind of soccer we did with the ball and press them the way we did, like we didn't give them a lot of time and space, we didn't give them a lot of chance to get into their rhythm. And I think we had to do that. So, I'm proud of the team for being brave. I'm proud of us going after it and not accepting that we were a lesser opponent. You know, we tried to go toe to toe with them, and I thought we did a great job of that.”
St. Louis may have had the strongest summer window in the league, but it doesn’t matter if they can’t show progress in MLS.
It’s a completely different squad than the one that was 1-1-3 heading into the Leagues Cup break. Hackworth’s XI have been stronger in possession, no longer beatable by simply ceding the ball to them and taking away transition moments.
“The more time we're together, the better.” Hackworth stated, “ I've been saying that we had momentum and we wanted to keep moving and keep progressing.”
Hackworth is well aware of the predicament, calling the upcoming 9 match stretch, “full of cup finals.”
There are no guarantees.
Even if CITY SC wins out, Minnesota would just need 18 points to stay in the playoffs… meaning that they’ll need some help along the way.
Hackworth’s side can only take care of the business in front of them, and he’ll have to rely on the growing chemistry between Edu Löwen and Hartel.
So far, the newcomers have only complimented each other with Becher’s skillset growing increasingly important in St. Louis’s new found strength in possession.
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Phil Neville will have his Timbers ready for revenge, but CITY SC will have to remain confident against an opponent they know very well.