Joo Klauss and Eduard Löwen are sidelined until late July for St. Louis CITY.
St. Louis CITY SC are dealing with big absences at the top of their squad, as head coach Bradley Carnell stated Monday that attacker Joo Klauss and midfielder Eduard Löwen are both out for an extended period of time.
Carnell stated before their Wednesday home match vs. Real Salt Lake (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass) that Klauss will be out for another four weeks and Löwen will be out for four to six weeks. Both Bundesliga veterans are recovering from quad problems.
With such schedules, Klauss and Löwen may miss six league games before returning when CITY SC’s Leagues Cup schedule begins on July 23 at the Columbus Crew. St. Louis leads the Western Conference rankings before Matchday 20, having surpassed expansion team expectations with 29 points (9W-6L-2D) after half of their first regular season.
The influence of Klauss & Löwen
Klauss, St. Louis’ third-leading scorer (5g/4a in nine appearances), has been out since late April. In the absence of the Brazilian No. 9, Nicholas Gioacchini has stepped up centrally and now has a team-leading 7g/1a in 17 games.
Löwen missed last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Nashville SC, giving a window into life without STL’s second-leading scorer (5g/6a in 16 appearances). As important as the German box-to-box midfielder is, Carnell envisions solutions in Njabulo Blom returning from international duty with South Africa, as well as what Jared Stroud and Indiana Vassilev can do with bigger roles.
“We have to be a little bit flexible and it started with the game plan against Nashville, playing with the midfield that we did,” Carnell said. “We thought that we were quite productive and putting guys in spots and getting guys like Indy to do double, both jobs – six and an eight and a 10. Jared Stroud, same thing – six and eight and a 10. So, we enjoyed that. We liked what we saw, and then with Indy as a double six can always operate.
We’ve gotten [Blom] back on a fast flight so he may be accessible. So, let’s see how he comes back into the game. He’s only just touched down now. So one arrives as one goes.”
Are replacements on the way?
What about more reinforcements? Carnell stated that the MLS NEXT Pro team will look for ways to “give guys rewards and keep guys growing” within the company.
There is also interest in bringing in external players during the MLS Secondary Transfer Window, which runs from July 5 to August 2. They’re also afraid of too much roster turnover.
“We know the window’s coming up and we know there’s players available,” Carnell added. “We’ll evaluate it and make an informed decision.” We’re not going to speed into anything. We’ve accomplished so much with this squad 17 matchdays in, and you’ll have to pinch yourself when you look at the season and the roster in context.”
Games will almost certainly be missed.
If Klauss and Löwen do return in late July, as Carnell predicted, St. Louis will have around a dozen matches left to compete for an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs position.
The club has created a cushion so far, but without their DPs over this stretch will be difficult:
