St. Louis City SC’s depth will be put to the test as the squad attempts to start 5-0 against Real Salt Lake.
The attention that St. Louis City SC has received is not restricted to the banks of the Mississippi River, eastern Missouri, or even the larger population of soccer fans in North America. Fans can also be seen in the Rhineland region of western Germany.
“Many of my family and people from my hometown are getting up late at night, 2:30 or something,” City SC midfielder Eduard Lowen explained, “setting an alarm and then watching the game.” So everyone is really excited.”
The start has been everything but subtle for City SC, the only side in Major League Soccer with a perfect record (4-0) and the team tied for the lead in goals with 11. After already having the best start by an MLS expansion team, a win Saturday against Real Salt Lake in Sandy, Utah (8:30 p.m., free on Apple TV) would make City SC only the second team since 2000 to start the season better than 4-0. (In 2012, Kansas City started 7-0.)
City SC will be missing two regulars in the roster, center back Kyle Hiebert and midfielder Miguel Perez, who have been called up by the Canadian national team and the United States under-19 team, respectively, and will miss the match. The club may also be without two injured players, Tim Parker at center back and Njabulo Blom at midfield. If all four are ruled out – Parker, who is recovering from a groin injury, is more likely to play — City SC’s depth will be put to the test.
Not that it hasn’t gotten a look already.
City SC has used a different starting lineup in each of its four games and, with Hiebert gone, will use a fifth this week; 15 different players have made starts and overall 20 have gotten in games. Only two teams have used more players. A league-high seven different players have scored for City SC, eight if you count the goal that was scored by a Charlotte player. City SC has scored multiple goals in each of its first four games and can be just the sixth team, expansion or otherwise, to do it in the first five. All of the other teams to do it made the playoffs.
“We have a lot of great players, even players who haven’t played yet,” Lowen said. “(Selmir) Pidro for example, who didn’t play a minute yet but he’s a very good player and I think his time will come as well. Akil (Watts) came into the (Portland) game and played very good. … Even if he didn’t score, Samuel (Adeniran) for example. He was so important in the last game when he won so many tackles and Niko (Gioacchini) came into the starting 11 and made it very good. I think we have a lot of good players, and that’s a very good thing and also very important because of this long season.”
When you consider that Joakim Nilsson, who had offseason knee surgery and won’t be back before May, was supposed to be one of the team’s starting center backs, the losses there are even bigger. Coach Bradley Carnell wasn’t sure about how Parker’s situation would pan out — last week it wasn’t clear he couldn’t play until a few hours before the San Jose game — but if he can’t go, the team would be missing its top three center backs, leaving Lucas Bartlett, who came to camp as a trialist and only recently signed, and either Josh Yaro, Jonathan Bell or Pidro to handle the other spot. In the midfield, there are plentiful options, including Isak Jensen, who is ready to get in a game after hurting his ankle in one of the last practices before the season started.
Carnell thinks it’s the team’s high-pressing system that has made switching players in and out of the lineup rather simple.
“I believe in the process of the system,” Carnell said. “I don’t want to quote coaches that are much greater than me, and we can only dream about achieving the things that they do, but (Liverpool coach) Jurgen Klopp said the counter press is your best playmaker. The system is the best teammate. I feel you have to have a good philosophy in place and stay consistent with your messaging. It’s just that with the messaging that everyone can get on board, and it’s a plug-and-play system. If you’re gonna get guys to succeed in the plug-and-play system and commit to the process, then it becomes more than worth your while. … We believe we want to reward the system. And I think inevitably, players will be rewarded as well. That’s just the beauty of it.”
City SC isn’t the only team to lose players to international call-ups, and it has it easy compared to RSL, which is one of eight MLS teams down four players to international call-ups and has six listed as questionable on its injury report, including two defenders who have played every minute so far — Bryan Oviedo (calf) and Marcelo Silva (hamstring).
Real Salt Lake is 1-2, having scored three goals while conceding five, and has lost its sole home game. Justen Glad scored two of the three goals on plays that began with corner kicks.
