The Major League Soccer offseason is brutally short. The league’s championship game was Dec. 9, and in the second week of the new year, training camp is about to open for most teams.
For City SC coach Bradley Carnell, whose season ended on Nov. 5, it was way too long.
“I thought every day I had off was one day I really wanted to be part of the team again, or with the team,” Carnell said this week in his office at CityPark as players wrapped up a voluntary workout on the field down below. “I haven’t really taken too much off time. I didn’t want to. I want to be as connected to the group as possible. With the draft and recruiting and hiring and signing, there’s been a lot going on behind the scenes. But I’m excited about Year 2.”
St. Louis City midfielder Aziel Jackson (25) takes a corner kick during the first half of a game Saturday, July 15, 2023, at CityPark in downtown St. Louis.
City SC’s inaugural season ended Nov. 5 with its first-round playoff elimination by Sporting Kansas City and its second season begins this weekend. Players have to report by Saturday and the team will fly Monday to Florida to and set up shop in Port St. Lucie for 12 days with one preseason game. After a brief stop in St. Louis, the team will relocate to Southern California for more training and preseason games before opening its season at home Feb. 20 against Houston in the CONCACAF Champions Cup and then its MLS season Feb. 24 against Real Salt Lake. The team was supposed to play its first preseason game Jan. 20 against Nashville and then MLS champ Columbus on Jan. 26, but with Columbus pushing back the start of its camp because of its long playoff run, that game was canceled. Instead, City SC will play an intrasquad game on the 20th and face Nashville on the 26th.
People are also reading…
A few players won’t be on the field when practice starts Monday. Midfielder Rasmus Alm, who missed the team’s final nine games with a groin injury, is out after having surgery to address the injury, which was relabeled a sports hernia right after the season ended. He’ll accompany the team to Florida but isn't ready to practice yet and, at the current rate, likely will miss the start of the season.
Also absent will be Danish left back Nikolas Dyhr, who the club acquired Monday, and first-round draft pick midfielder Hosei Kijima, both of whom are still in the process of getting work permits. Another midfielder, Aziel Jackson, is already in Florida, but he’s in Orlando training with the U.S. national team. He won’t join the team until after the U.S. plays Slovenia on Jan. 20, and after that game, he has to return to St. Louis for his physical before going to Florida.
Carnell said there were no trialists coming to camp and if players were needed to even up the numbers for practices, City2 players, such as John Klein, could come to camp. It was a situation like that last season that opened the door for Miguel Perez to make the team.
While last season’s camp was also about forming a team from players who often didn’t know each other, this year’s has only a few new faces, all with a defensive focus: Dyhr, right back Tomas Totland and defensive midfielder Chris Durkin. Durkin was acquired in a trade with D.C. United, costing City SC midfielder Jared Stroud and defender Lucas Bartlett. Bartlett is one of three defensive players from last season who isn’t back, along with John Nelson (now with the L.A. Galaxy) and the seldom-seen Jonathan Bell (Seattle).
Tightening up a defense that allowed 11 goals in its final four games was at the top of City SC’s offseason to-do list
“We thought our biggest weapon is the transition, but also in transition the other way there were a few things that we felt we need to get better at and tighten the belt,” Carnell said. “So bringing in competition, and educating the current guys on what is expected and going more into detail of where we got it wrong in the games that we didn’t win and how we can help them along individually.”
City SC coach Bradley Carnell puts his hand on his heart as he thanks the fans in attendance after his team lost Game 2 of an MLS playoff series against Sporting Kansas City at Children's Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan., on Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023.
Durkin turns 24 in February but already has played four seasons in MLS, as well as in Europe. He gives the team an option at defensive midfield in addition to Njabulo Blom, who struggled in the latter stages of the season and didn’t make South Africa’s team for the African Cup of Nations, which starts Saturday.
“I think Chris brings a young leader mentality to the group, a young American leader mentality,” Carnell said. “I’d emphasize that because I think stylistically and just from a physical output point of view, we lost Jared Stroud, who was a guy I knew from the Red Bulls, a guy I brought in, a kind of role model for the philosophy in certain aspects. I think Chris can replace that with some good defensive attributes, good qualities, a young leader type, covers tons of ground, similar ground to Edu Lowen, he does 12, 13, 14 kilometers (7½-8½ miles) a game. Which is impeccable. As much as we want Edu to succeed in the final third, we want to complement him with somebody and (Blom) that can operate together and still maintain the flexibility and the freedom we give Edu. How that all puzzles through, we’re excited about the preseason to see how we filter through all that and see how it looks actually.”
Carnell said it is possible to have Lowen, Blom and Durkin all on the field together.
One player City SC hopes benefits from training camp is midfielder Nokkvi Thorisson, the Icelandic midfielder who team acquired in the summer transfer window. He didn’t get a whole lot of playing time, with only 20 minutes over the final five games of the season.
“Nokkvi got thrown in at the worst possible time,” Carnell said. “In the middle of the season, things were going along at a rapid rate, to get on terms and stylistically he fits the way we play. I think work rate, mentality wise, fits the style of play, now he just needs opportunity. Now he just needs to be showcased. Can we get him games, friendly games in preseason, put him on that level and let him challenge.”
Other than the way it ended, there was little to dislike about City SC’s first season.
“I don’t think we need to change or tinker too much but we’re looking at a few different things and trying to get the players a renewed appetite," Carnell said. "Sometimes a break is good, you can see guys in voluntary training here on their own, and never have I seen this many before on a voluntary basis. Everyone’s hungry, everyone’s wanting to come back early, credit to them, they seem to be in good shape. Can’t wait to get going."
Post a Comment