Before the Major League Soccer season even started, 13 experts for MLS.com predicted that St. Louis City SC would either finish last or second-to-last in the Western Conference.
Now, just past the midway point of the season, City SC sits atop the conference. The team set a record for the best start for an expansion team and currently has the best goal differential in the entire league.
“It's not like they're at the bottom at first and slowly but surely have been coming up,” explained sports journalist Julian Trejo, the inaugural fellow for the River City Journalism Fund. “They've been at the top this entire season.”
A big reason for City SC’s success is the team’s aggressive style of play. Indeed, coach Bradley Carnell during games can often be spotted urging his team to move up the field to press.
Trejo said that’s forcing other teams to make mistakes. “It is very high-risk, but there's just a high reward of scoring goals and taking advantage of other teams' mistakes,” he said.
The play of goalie Roman Bürki has buoyed St. Louis City SC’s success, as has the team’s response to injuries to key players including forward João Klauss and midfielder Eduard Löwen.
“Honestly, at first, it was looking kind of rough when Klauss first got injured,” Trejo said. “Those first couple games were pretty difficult offensively for City. But, man, they figured it out.”
Among the players who have stepped up are forward Nicholas Gioacchini and midfielder Aziel Jackson.
“[Jackson] is the type of guy that makes magic on the ball,” Trejo said. “He’s going to do anything he can to create a dangerous opportunity, and he’s easily one of the most creative players on City’s team right now.”
As far as City SC’s prospects for the second half of the season, Trejo said signs point to the team being even better than it was in the first half.
“They’re going to start playing teams that they've already played earlier in the season, so they've already seen them before and will have a bit more insight on what to do.”
Listen to more St. Louis City SC analysis from journalist Julian Trejo on Apple Podcast, Spotify or Google Podcast or by clicking the play button below.
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