Clubs rarely play beautiful road soccer in MLS, between travel, fixture congestion, and the roster rules that make it difficult to foster depth.
However, St. Louis has found a way to build depth and competition throughout their roster, an internal drive makes performances like Saturday’s 0-1 win in Toronto possible.
“The whole group, they are great teammates and just wait until their numbers are called”, St. Louis CITY SC manager Bradley would say in his post-match comments.
Winning in Toronto isn’t always easy, but St. Louis knew they had an opportunity. Toronto had been struggling massively, while also missing eleven players from their roster, including DPs Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernadeschi.
With those absences in mind, it was crucial for CITY to start the match with intensity, but the start was nervy, and the first half saw Toronto with a few limited opportunities.
Toronto’s success in the wide areas was apparent, and even though St. Louis had two missed chances throughout the first forty-five minutes, it was their defense solidity that needed to step up in the second half.
It was surprising to see Bradley Carnell make no adjustments to his personnel, but Carnell knew what that these players could adjust. Switching from his 4-4-2 diamond formation to a wider 4-2-2-2 formation that saw AZ Jackson and Jared Stroud occupy the space out wide that had previously seen TFC players, like Jahkeele Marshall-Ruth, create multiple chances driving centrally from the wide spaces.
The change in spacing, and a “more aggressive” mentality, allowed for the conditions that saw CITY finally find the opening goal.
As the fullbacks pinched forward, Akil Watts’ freedom allowed him to force a turnover and collect a bouncing ball at the edge of Toronto’s box before sending it into AZ Jackson who slotted it past Tomas Romero.
Romero was crucial to Toronto staying in the match, but CITY had finally unlocked the twenty-two-year-old El Salvadoran through quick interplay and forward defending.
“We just had to correct one or two minor things”, Carnell would add after the match, “What we saw in the second half was complete domination against a tricky opponent. I just felt there was a resiliency and ruthlessness in this group that it’s just a joy to watch week in and week out. Then to grab another clean sheet, I’m really happy with that.”
The big story of the match would wind up being AZ Jackson’s play after being rewarded with his first MLS goal, sealing the victory for the club in front of Roman Bürki’s 150th career Clean Sheet.
Carnell appreciates Jackson’s work ethic both offensively and defensively, it’s why he felt confident having Jackson cover Marshall-Ruth through the second half instead of bringing on a more traditional wide player.
“He is consistently a good 1v1 defender, right, it was a great matchup on that side. We score a goal because he goes forward, stays true to our defending principles and now we start the transition further up the field.”
AZ, for his part, is taking his recent success in stride.
“It just came with consistency and just believing in myself and being patient, you know? It’s very hard to be a player and want to get more minutes, but also just staying focused, and just waiting for the opportunity to come in and take advantage.”
Jackson is a great case study for not giving up on players, CITY has a few of those, but Jackson’s case is relevant given his success in last season’s MLS NEXT PRO campaign for Minnesota United 2.
When St. Louis acquired Jackson, he knew that he wasn’t on top of the depth chart, but given time, he would see chances that he was never afforded in Minnesota.
“NEXT PRO was definitely a big year for me, being in the Best XI and having a bunch of goals and assists. But, just getting those minutes – because it’s hard for young players nowadays. You think you need to be somewhere when actually, you just need to stay where you are and continue to strive because a lot of players get complacent with where they are.”
Jackson hits on a common theme, young players often feel they need to find a way into a European squad as soon as they can, thinking that the bigger stage will automatically make them better “footballers”. However, the path to developing a player isn’t linear and no two player’s developmental journey will look the same.
“You have to show up show up like you are in the first team, do the same thing you would do on the first team, even on the second team… I feel like I stayed true to that for the whole season. I was able to come to St. Louis and I am very grateful for that.”
Players will continue to write their stories in St. Louis, but not many will be the moment like AZ Jackson has been since breaking through in San Jose.
St. Louis has already traveled to LA ahead of Wednesday’s 1v2 matchup vs LAFC, a matchup that could not come soon enough for this club. However, the few extra days may allow for Edu Löwen to make the squad as he, along with Joakim Nilsson, has traveled with the team preparing for more intense minutes.
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