蜜芽传媒

There has not been a whole lot of good news around 蜜芽传媒 City SC lately, as the team is stuck in an 11-game winless streak, but there was some optimism in practice Tuesday as Eduard Lowen was back on the practice field with City SC and could be back in the lineup Saturday when the team plays San Jose at Energizer Park.

After playing 90 minutes for City2 in an MLS Next Pro game Friday, Lowen felt he could go for City SC.

鈥淵es, I think so. I think so,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut I have to take it day by day because there are a lot of things happening privately that I can鈥檛 predict.鈥�

Lowen has missed 10 games for City SC, but unlike many of his teammates, not because of injury but for personal reasons. He declined to talk about his current situation, but when he missed time in 2024, it was because his wife was battling brain cancer.

鈥淚 will expand on it, probably a little bit more, hopefully soon,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut what I can say that it is a thing that鈥檚 family-related, why I was gone, back, gone, back. So I have to take it day by day. It鈥檚 hard to make plans right now.

鈥淥bviously I want to play as soon as possible. I鈥檓 really excited. I鈥檓 really looking forward to it, and I really, really hope that nothing is going to change and that I can stay in training and stick with the guys, stick with the team and get into my best shape again and then have a consistency of playing games. So that will be awesome for sure.鈥�

So it looks like Lowen鈥檚 return does not mean the uncertainty about his availability is over. After missing four games for personal reasons (plus another for a red card), he returned for two 鈥� an MLS match and a U.S. Open Cup match, playing a total of 66 minutes. But just when it looked like he would be ready to go 90 minutes, he had to leave for personal reasons again and missed four more games. Last weekend, while the first team was in Colorado for a Saturday game with the Rapids, Lowen stayed behind and went 90 minutes with City2.

鈥淗e had a really good performance,鈥� said David Critchley, then the City2 coach, now the caretaker coach for the first team, after the game. 鈥淚鈥檓 super-proud that he was able to get 90 minutes and do well.

鈥淚 was confident (he could go 90 minutes). He loves the game so much. He鈥檚 super-passionate about the game. So to have him out for 90 minutes and being almost an example for some of these younger pros on how to handle himself was great to have.鈥�

Lowen played a role in three of the four goals scored by Mykhi Joyner in City2鈥檚 6-3 win over Portland Timbers2. He had an assist on one, placing a free kick on target in front of the net for Joyner to head it in, and on two others, his role was getting out of the way. Lowen takes penalty kicks for City SC, and when Emil Jaaskelainen was fouled in the box early in the game, Joyner expected Lowen to take the PK, but he declined the offer.

鈥淥bviously it will be good for me to take the penalty,鈥� he said. 鈥淢ykhi is a great kid. I like him a lot. Immediately, he didn鈥檛 even ask for it. He gave me the penalty. But he鈥檚 playing most of the times in that league, so he needs the goal on the score lines, on the leaderboard, so I was like, why should I come down and take away his penalties? That鈥檚 why I let him shoot the penalties. And he did a great job. I was a part of the Mykhi show.鈥�

That brought a smile to Lowen鈥檚 face, something there hasn鈥檛 been a whole lot of this season. He鈥檚 back, but he knows nothing is definite.

鈥淭hat鈥檚 the thing,鈥� he said. 鈥淢y first priority is obviously not here, but the more important thing is taking care of my family. But I also want to contribute to this team. I love this team. I鈥檝e been a part of this team, of this club, from the very start, and I want to be out there and help the guys and help the team as well, so it鈥檚 always a tough struggle for sure.鈥�

Roads to recovery

Lowen isn鈥檛 the only player potentially returning to action Saturday.

Tomas Totland, Henry Kessler and Rasmus Alm were all on the field for the Tuesday training session, and all could be available in some form against San Jose.

Totland has been out so long that his last appearance predates City SC鈥檚 11-game winless streak. He played in the 1-0 home victory March 15 against Seattle and then hurt his hamstring, knocking him out of the lineup. He suited up for a 0-0 tie April 19 against Vancouver but didn鈥檛 play, and then his hamstring got worse. He鈥檚 missed the past eight games in all competitions.

National team duty

If you鈥檙e wondering whether Joyner鈥檚 four-goal game will earn him more playing time with City SC, the answer is: not right away. Joyner has been called in for U.S. under-19 team training camp June 2-11 in Spain. The U.S. team will face Spain on June 7 and another opponent June 10. This is the third call-up for Joyner.

After his four-goal game, just the fifth in Next Pro history, Joyner is tied for the league lead with eight goals.

Midfielder Tyson Pearce has been called in to the U.S. under-18 team for a tournament in Switzerland. The U.S. team will play four matches between June 1 and June 10, facing France, Argentina and Australia and a team to be determined. This is Pearce鈥檚 second U-18 call-up and third overall, the other coming at the U-16 level.

Benjamin-hochman

Hochman: 蜜芽传媒 City SC makes right move by firing Olof Mellberg, but what鈥檚 next?

• Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

蜜芽传媒 City SC fires Olof Mellberg as coach after 15 games; Critchley to run team

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

Mykhi Joyner scores 4 goals as City2 beats Portland2 6-3 in MLS Next Pro

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

What is 蜜芽传媒 City SC?

Is it a fun alcove within the 蜜芽传媒 sports community and culture that attracts soccer-loving, 314-proud 蜜芽传媒ans and Louligans?

Or is it a serious soccer club intent on winning and winning and winning?

It can be both, of course. And for that first magical year of 2023, it sure seemed like it was. But here we are, late May of 2025, and 蜜芽传媒 City SC is at a crossroads. Just what is this club? Well, as owner Carolyn Kindle said in February, it must make the Major League Soccer playoffs in 2025. So 蜜芽传媒 made the right move by firing coach Olof Mellberg, whose team hasn鈥檛 won a match in 11 tries.

Heck, I wrote they should鈥檝e done so on May 20, before the embarrassing U.S. Open Cup loss at Minnesota and last weekend鈥檚 L as well. It was obvious that Mellberg was the wrong fit 鈥� like when your friend starts dating a new person and you know, before the appetizers at the first meet-and-greet meal, that it won鈥檛 work out.

But will the Mellberg firing alone save the season? Well, I want to think in part it can. Because not only will there be a new coach (they鈥檙e calling promoted City2 coach David Critchley the caretaker coach) but also players returning from injury.

Like, a lot of them.

As Tom Timmermann reported for the Post-Dispatch, it鈥檚 possible that four fellows could return as soon as Saturday against San Jose: Eduard Lowen, Henry Kessler, Tomas Totland and Rasmus Alm. And then there鈥檚 the optimism about transfer window moves 鈥� if 蜜芽传媒 indeed makes any moves. The confluence of all of this could push City into the playoff mix.

It reminds me of a team 蜜芽传媒 fans have perhaps tried to forget: the 2023 Sporting KC team. That team went on a Mellberg-like run to start the season 鈥� 10 games without a win. But the team slowly and surely found its way 鈥� after going 0-7-3, SKC went 12-7-5 and cracked the 鈥�8-9 Game鈥� in the Western Conference playoffs. Kansas City won that 鈥� and then won the first-round series against No. 1-seeded 蜜芽传媒.

With three points for a win, MLS teams can leapfrog up the table quickly, and of course that鈥檚 the goal for City. But that means City will have to start playing like City 鈥� and it sure didn鈥檛 under Mellberg. Perhaps the most puzzling part of this year was his utilization of the defense. Yes, yes, many starting defenders were injured. But Mellberg tried to overcompensate for this by shaking up the whole system.

He made the four-line back into a five-line back, which affected the strength of City鈥檚 offensive push. City didn鈥檛 play with its relentless pressing style 鈥� something sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel pointed out in his statement about Mellberg鈥檚 firing:

鈥淲e鈥檝e analyzed the team鈥檚 performance across a number of factors, including the need to execute against a style of play that led to the team鈥檚 initial success and has been part of our DNA for four years. ... Our fans deserve a better performing team, and we intend to give them one.鈥�

Now, of course, it鈥檚 fair to look at personnel 鈥� and the person in charge of personnel. Pfannenstiel makes the signings. There has been a lot of player movement over the years, though that is the nature of MLS business. But the pressure must remain on Lutz to make this a winning club. He botched the Mellberg hire. But he believes there is enough talent to succeed here. He must reinvigorate things over at Market and 20th, the crossroads.

蜜芽传媒 City currently has scored only 11 goals 鈥� only two teams have fewer. City鈥檚 minus-9 goal differential is fourth-worst in MLS. Interestingly, City鈥檚 expected goals (20.6) is 10th-worst in MLS 鈥� meaning they鈥檙e not as bad in that category as they are in, well, actual execution of goals.

But with this club, it鈥檚 about attitude.

The 蜜芽传媒 Blues, especially in their springtime playoff push, played with an attitude.

City SC does not.

City SC, as I鈥檝e written, needs a transfusion of pride. These uninspired players are not playing proudly. And they鈥檙e constantly losing the little battles on the field 鈥� and those sure add up.

The team is steadfast that its jersey colors are 鈥淐ity Red鈥� and not magenta or pink. But it turns out City SC does have some pretty important pink, regarding slips. Two fired coaches within the first 2 1/2 MLS seasons.

But if they don鈥檛 start winning, the next pink slip might not go to the coach.

蜜芽传媒 City SC

Eduard Lowen ready to return to 蜜芽传媒 City SC, though uncertainty remains

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

Pressure is mounting on Mellberg: STL Soccer Talk

• Beth O'Malley | Post-Dispatch ,  Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

蜜芽传媒 City SC fires Olof Mellberg as coach after 15 games; Critchley to run team

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

For the second time in less than a year, 蜜芽传媒 City SC has fired its head coach, parting ways with coach Olof Mellberg on Tuesday after just 15 games.

City SC won just two games of those 15 games under Mellberg and, after starting the season with two wins and two ties, went winless in his final 11 games as the team had sunk toward the bottom of the Western Conference standings, kept out of last place only by a Los Angeles Galaxy team that has yet to win. City SC has lost five of its past six games against MLS opponents, and the other result was a tie that everyone on the team said felt like a loss after City SC blew a 2-0 lead with 20 minutes to go against Sporting Kansas City.

City2鈥檚 David Critchley will be the caretaker coach while the search begins for the replacement. Critchley took over as coach of City2 this season after working with the City SC academy teams and was one of the very first hires by the club. City2 is 6-4-1 with 20 goals scored in its 11 games. John Hackworth will take over for City2 while Critchley is with City SC. Baggio Husidic, a City2 assistant coach, will also join the first team.

Mellberg did not make it to the halfway point of the season before City SC, counting on making the playoffs again after missing in its second season, took the team from him while there was still time to salvage the season.

鈥淭he decision to part ways with Olof goes beyond just results,鈥� sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said in a statement from the club. 鈥淲e鈥檝e analyzed the team鈥檚 performance across a number of factors, including the need to execute against a style of play that led to the team鈥檚 initial success and has been part of our DNA for four years. As a club, we have certain standards we need to meet and believe a coaching change was necessary to improve our overall performance and return to a winning culture. Our fans deserve a better performing team, and we intend to give them one.鈥�

鈥淲e understood it would take time for Olof to become acclimated to Major League Soccer and certainly acknowledge injuries made his job difficult, but we simply could not continue down this path,鈥� said president and GM Diego Gigliani. 鈥淲e are disappointed that we were not able to find success under Olof. He moved over here from Sweden and worked tirelessly on behalf of the club during his tenure. We wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors.鈥�

Doubts about Mellberg鈥檚 future had been circling the team for the past several weeks as the winless streak dragged on, turning into concern within the fan base about why the team hadn鈥檛 made a move.

On Tuesday morning, Mellberg was on the field for practice as the team resumed training after taking an extra day off following a grueling stretch of seven games in 22 days. Absent from practice was Mellberg鈥檚 top assistant, Azrudin Valentic, who came with Mellberg from Sweden. At the time, the club said only that Valentic was 鈥渘o longer with the club for personal reasons.鈥�

After practice, just a few hours before being fired, Mellberg met with reporters. He was asked if he鈥檇 ever gone through a stretch like this, either as a player or a coach.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think so,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut I鈥檝e also never experienced, not as a player or as a coach ... I was open-minded when I came in, but probably in many people鈥檚 minds, Roman (Burki) was the first goalkeeper, and we had a back four of (Tomas Totland, Henry Kessler, Joakim Nilsson and Jannes Horn) and the midfielders with (Edu Lowen and Chris Durkin). I鈥檝e never experienced to that, to lose a full back four and two central midfielders like that. So definitely a challenging period, but I think the folks that have stepped in have done an extremely good job. The results in the end are on me and, with that said, extremely disappointed.鈥�

On July 1 of last season, City SC fired its first coach, Bradley Carnell, in the wake of a run of just three ties over a nine-game span. Mellberg did that two better, with just three ties over an 11-game span. Just shy of the halfway point of the season, City SC is eight points out of the last playoff spot, a gap that could be made up but would require the team to start winning at some point. Mellberg’s points-per-game total of .73 is tied for the sixth-worst among full-time MLS coaches with 15 or more games, according to Matthew Doyle of .

The Mellberg era started unspectacularly, with back-to-back 0-0 ties, but City SC then beat defending MLS champion the Los Angeles Galaxy on the road 3-0, an impressive accomplishment that has been diminished by the fact that the Galaxy is still winless after 15 games. City SC then beat Seattle, a longtime demon, on March 15 to be unbeaten through four games.

But that was it. City SC鈥檚 only win over the next 2 1/2 months was a win in the U.S. Open Cup against third-division Union Omaha. The team lost four games in a row, including one to Carnell鈥檚 new team, Philadelphia.

Gradually, it got worse, with City SC鈥檚 once-effective defense slipping, allowing 11 goals over a four-game span.

The team鈥檚 early offensive struggles were in sharp contrast to the way it played at the end of the 2024 season under interim coach John Hackworth after Pfannenstiel loaded up with new players in the summer transfer window. City SC was shut out in eight of its first 15 games, matching its total for all of 2024.

Often, that was exacerbated by Mellberg, a star center back in his playing days, going heavy on defensive players, sometimes having only one or two attacking players in the starting lineup.

Some of the recent results were also demoralizing. City SC led rival Sporting Kansas City 2-0 going into the 70th minute and came out with a 2-2 tie. Three days later, the team showed little inspiration in a 3-0 loss to Minnesota. In an Open Cup Round of 16 match with Minnesota just days later, City SC led 2-1 before giving up goals in the 85th and 88th minutes to lose 3-2.

The club hired Mellberg after a global search, looking for a coach who had played City SC鈥檚 pressing style and who had success without having a high-salaried roster. The club settled on Mellberg, who had done most of his coaching in Sweden with a small club, Brommapojkarna, that had the largest youth program in Europe and mostly developed players and then sold them off.

Mellberg never had any huge success but did what passes for success at a club like BP: either getting them promoted from the second division to the first, or getting them to stay there after promotion.

There were risks in hiring a coach like Mellberg. MLS has often been a big adjustment for coaches coming new into the league, with a complicated roster system and travel unlike in any other league, which can be especially severe for a club like City SC based in 蜜芽传媒, which has to make seven trips to the West Coast for games.

But Mellberg also got away from what had been successful for City SC in its early days, dropping the four-man back line with two center backs in favor of a five-man back line, with three center backs. Originally, that was seen as a way to get the most out of City SC鈥檚 talented collection of center backs 鈥� Kessler, Nilsson and Timo Baumgartl 鈥� but it put pressures on other spots on the field and left limited spots for attacking players. And when Kessler and Nilsson were hurt, Mellberg stuck with it.

Mellberg is the third coach in MLS to be fired so far this season. Sporting Kansas City fired its coach, Peter Vermes, after an 0-5-1 start in his 16th season, and Montreal fired Laurent Courtois after five games of his second season.

蜜芽传媒 City SC

Little things mean big trouble as 蜜芽传媒 City SC falls to Colorado

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

Mykhi Joyner scores 4 goals as City2 beats Portland2 6-3 in MLS Next Pro

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

Pressure growing on everyone on City SC as team looks to snap winless streak in Colorado

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

Pressure is mounting on Mellberg

Olof Mellberg is still the 蜜芽传媒 City SC coach. Or, at least he was on Tuesday when beat writer Tom Timmermann and co-host Beth O'Malley sat down to chat about the team's loss against Colorado. With San Jose coming to town on Saturday, and the growing sense of frustration with Mellberg and the string of winless games, what options are there to turn the season around?

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蜜芽传媒 Post-Dispatch

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As 蜜芽传媒 City SC鈥檚 winless streak hit 11 games Saturday night, there were once again key moments in the game that the team couldn鈥檛 take advantage of. Individually, those moments may be little, but they have added up to something big.

Of the 33 points available in the past 11 games, City SC has just three to show for after its 1-0 loss to the Colorado Rapids in Commerce City, Colorado, that featured a 90-minute rain delay early in the game that pushed its conclusion past midnight 蜜芽传媒 time. Those lost points explain why City SC is next to last in the Western Conference and why coach Olof Mellberg鈥檚 job security continues to plummet.

Prior to the first Minnesota game on May 17, Mellberg said that each game was basically a must-win game for his team. City SC has gone 0-3 since then.

鈥淚 think the guys felt ... that we had a really good chance of getting the three points today,鈥� Mellberg said. 鈥淎gain, unfortunately, it wasn鈥檛 to be.

鈥淚 think the guys felt it was an opportunity wasted.鈥�

One of the most maddening things about this gruesome stretch for City SC is how easily it could have been different, with a goal here, a defensive stop there that would be enough to quiet talk of firing the coach. The loss Saturday will be remembered for Cedric Teuchert鈥檚 breakaway in the 36th minute, where Klauss seized a turnover and sprung Teuchert. He managed to outrun the Colorado defense from just over midfield until close to the penalty spot, only to have goalkeeper Nico Hansen block his shot, costing City SC a chance to take the lead.

It was very similar to the chance Teuchert had in the U.S. Open Cup game with Minnesota that could have made it 3-1 and sealed the win. On that one, he shot wide of the net.

鈥淲e had a couple of really big (chances),鈥� Mellberg said, 鈥渆specially the Cedi one in the first half. I didn鈥檛 think it was a poor finish 鈥� it was a really good save. That goal would obviously have made a big difference to the game.鈥�

Instead, it was a non-goal that made a big difference. Five minutes later, Colorado got the game鈥檚 only goal, with Darren Yapi knocking down a cross in the box and beating several City SC defenders to it and then having the shot hit defender Josh Yaro, redirecting it past goalkeeper Roman Burki.

鈥淚 think a lot of the games this season have come down to small margins,鈥� said midfielder Jake Girdwood-Reich. 鈥淟ike tonight. We just need to be better and pounce on our opportunities and be better at the back. It鈥檚 as simple as that. We鈥檙e not playing good enough for the club, and we have to fix this.鈥�

Teuchert wasn鈥檛 the only who couldn鈥檛 put the ball in the net. Klauss had four shots in the game, none of which were on target but a couple of which came really, really close. Marcel Hartel made a dazzling 40-yard slalom run through the Rapids in the 65th minute, got open at the top of the penalty box and shot the ball inches over the bar.

鈥淥n these really big chances,鈥� Mellberg said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think there鈥檚 anything mental. Sometimes they go in, sometimes they don鈥檛. I think we can improve on the final pass, the final cross, positioning in there, so the moment before we create those big chances so we can get more of them. I think a game like this, we could have created even more. ... Creating more of those chances obviously gives us a better chance of scoring more goals.鈥�

鈥淪ometimes it comes with a bit of luck,鈥� said Girdwood-Reich, 鈥渁nd it hasn鈥檛 come to us. I think eventually it鈥檚 going to come. We just need to still believe we鈥檙e still in it for this season. Our goal is still to make the playoffs, and we still have to think that way.鈥�

The question remains as to whether Mellberg will be around for that. He has already gone two games past the nine-game winless streak that got former coach Bradley Carnell fired last season, and City SC鈥檚 eight shutouts this season already match 鈥� in 15 games 鈥� the total the team had all of last season in 34 games. The team last won a game on March 15 and will go at least 2 1/2 months between wins.

MLS seasons may be long, but by any standard, that鈥檚 a long drought.

With the halfway point of the season two weeks away, the team has just two wins and is eight points out of a playoff spot, which is the team鈥檚 stated goal for the season. Something needs to change, and it needs to change soon. The team has no wins, nine losses and three ties in its past 12 games against MLS opponents (11 league matches and one Open Cup match).

Regardless of the result, City SC players and coaches were happy to get this game behind them. This was the seventh game in 22 days for City SC, and it lost five of them and got just one win, an Open Cup win over a third-division club where the team didn鈥檛 score until the 68th minute. With the injuries City SC has been dealing with, Mellberg didn鈥檛 have a whole lot of roster options, and several players logged a lot of minutes over the past three weeks.

鈥淧ersonally, I鈥檝e never played three games in a week in my career,鈥� said Girdwood-Reich, who turns 21 on Monday, 鈥渟o it鈥檚 definitely been hard on my body. I鈥檓 just disappointed we haven鈥檛 come away with the points and we didn鈥檛 get through to the Cup.鈥�

蜜芽传媒 City SC

蜜芽传媒 City SC blows another lead in the closing minutes, knocked out of Open Cup

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch

Benjamin-hochman

Hochman: Olof Mellberg shouldn鈥檛 be 蜜芽传媒 City SC鈥檚 coach anymore. Here鈥檚 why.

• Benjamin Hochman | Post-Dispatch

蜜芽传媒 City SC

As pressure mounts on Mellberg, 蜜芽传媒 City SC coach says he's focused on next game

• Tom Timmermann | Post-Dispatch