St. Louis CITY SC see double as they host DC United
What Troy Lesesne is building in DC may have a familiar refrain to St. Louis ears, but Bradley Carnell believes his club is determined after an important road trip.
Old friends coming home was a familiar refrain at this week’s CITY SC pre-match press conference. Jared Stroud and Lucas Bartlett make their anticipated returns to CITYPARK and they’ll bring a familiar feel within Troy Lesesne’s Red Bull-esque scheme.
“They’re very different from the club we saw last season”, Carnell would preview, “They’re a different beast this year, we can see the data, we can see the skill, and it compliments a nice, direct, pacey, full of action, full of mentality style of play. Our physicality and willingness to stay in it as long as possible is going to be key to this game, but by no means is it an easy opponent.”
If Carnell’s squad can bring the same intensity that saw them claw back the early goal against the Galaxy last weekend, then the home cooking at CITYPARK should usher the boys in red to a 5th straight match unbeaten.
Carnell will also feel some relief with Njabulo Blom likely to factor into the match at some point. Additionally, Tim Parker and Edu Löwen are still unavailable as they recover from their respective injuries, with Carnell reporting that Löwen recovering ahead of schedule from his knock ahead of the trip to California, "Edu's progressing really well, quicker than expected, and for him to be jogging already is really good, but it's still too early for him and Tim with his back."
How CITY SC will lineup on Saturday will be intriguing, Carnell has found success with multiple approaches in this early season, be it the 4-4-2 diamond, 4-4-2 with a single striker, or the 4-2-3-1 with Sam Adeniran up top.
The attack looked good last week with Ostrák and Durkin in the middle of the pitch but there should still be a hearty debate over who starts up top.
If Carnell is committed to starting one of Klauss or Adeniran and bringing in the other off the bench, it seems to reason that Klauss’ ability to track back into the midfield and be strong in his hold up play would be the reason to start the Brazilian over CITY SC’s leading scorer in Adeniran. Strictly stylistically, Adeniran’s speed and ability to bully tired defenders could also be seen as a major positive for bringing him on late in matches.
Adeniran still leads the team in goals with 2 while Klauss has yet to find the back of the net but both should have their fair share of chances this weekend.
The bigger issue for CITY SC will be in containing Christian Benteke while not allowing DC’s wingers to pick up the scraps. Benteke has drastically fallen off the pace after he scored three goals in week one, but most of that has been in limiting Benteke’s chances. DC’s talisman is still scoring a goal on every 2 shots on target, and DC only trails the Galaxy and Inter Miami in expected goals.
The advanced stats paint a tougher picture than what fans around the league may be expecting, but CITY SC feel they have a tangible advantage at CITYPARK, as DC have yet to win on the road. MLS’ original dynasty drew 2-2 in Portland before a scoreless draw in Cincinnati.
"It rolls off the tongue, conceding 2 goals, 3 goals.” Carnell reflected when asked about the goals allowed during the club’s first extended road trip of the season, “but we came away from the road trip with 2 points and that's the important number. CITYPARK is familiar to us. It's a lot to handle for visiting clubs."
CITYPARK will also be familiar for Jared Stroud and Lucas Bartlett as they return for the first time. Both players seem excited to return to St. Louis, even if the sentiment may be more hostile than he remembers.
“I’m excited for it, I’m really just excited to see everyone”, Lucas Bartlett said as he looked ahead to the match, “A lot of great people in that organization and a lot of people who did really great things for me. But, when the whistle is blown it’s a different mentality for me. […] It’s one of the best atmospheres in Major League Soccer, the fans are loyal to their team, they stay active in all that they’re doing in terms of the gameplay. For us, that’s just some energy to fuel off, it’s easy to get wrapped up in it, but you look through our roster and these guys have played some big games.”
In the battle of former Red Bulls interim managers, Bradley Carnell feels confident in his club, but so does Troy Lesesne, setting the tone for a heavy metal matchup.