Bradley Carnell is ready to learn from this week’s loss to LAFC, but St. Louis was always going to have a tough time in LA. The club, fresh off of a win in Toronto, would have to fly across the continent to face off in a marquee matchup with the defending MLS champions.
Of course, it was a challenge that the team was up for, and while Bradley Carnell won’t accept excuses, it’s easy to understand how LAFC were able to open up CITY over the final twenty minutes of the match.
A performance that would become eerily reminiscent of the club’s 3-0 loss in Seattle earlier this season, St. Louis went punch for punch with LAFC, until the pressure mounted and caused the dam to structurally collapse.
“I’d rather go down swinging”, Carnell would say in his press conference availability on Friday, “Whether you lose 3-0 or 2-1, losing three points is losing three points.” Comments speaking to how LAFC continually poured it on once they were able to stretch out CITY’s structure.
The initial LAFC goal introduced a Butterfly Effect moment to the match, CITY had pressed well and the initial long ball was set long by a collapsing LAFC defender. However, Kyle Hiebert slips as he goes to play the sailing ball, leaving Lucas Bartlett to cover, he covers easily but the returned ball falls directly to José Cifuentes, and it’s a moment of phenomenal understanding between him and Carlos Vela to hit LAFC’s star man in stride.
That isn’t to say that LAFC wasn’t probing St. Louis’ defensive structure all half, but once the miscue led to the first goal, it was over. What happens if that turnover leads to CITY winning the second ball? We’ll never know, but Bradley Carnell is taking some lessons away from such a tough loss.
“It’s a puzzle, after every match you try to learn something about how all of your pieces fit together, and hopefully by the end of the season, by the time playoffs come, you have the entire picture.”
Indiana Vassilev had similar thoughts reflecting on the loss, “I think we showed a lot of growth from our 3-0 loss in Seattle to our loss in LA, maybe not everyone sees it, but I think we’ve grown so much since then.”
It always hurts to lose a marquee match but with Tim Parker, and other CITY regulars, seeing some rest, it presents CITY with an opportunity to end this run of games with a strong win at CITYPARK.
Carnell was ecstatic to see the return of Edu Löwen on Wednesday, it was a short cameo for the German maestro, but Carnell noted that fans should expect to see a progression this weekend. This weekend brings a final match before the All-Star and League’s Cup breaks and a match that will be pivotal for St. Louis.
It’s one final opportunity to empty the tank before a mini break heading into the All-Star match. Bradley Carnell made sure to mention that the players will have a few days off following the match against Inter Miami tomorrow, “They can watch the all-star game if they want, but I don’t want to see them at all for those three days.”
It’s interesting to think of Saturday’s match against Miami as the end of St. Louis CITY SC’s first act. There’s an interesting interlude on the horizon, but the squad will not be able to get away with looking past Inter Miami to their matchup with Club América.
Miami has not been good, at all… but with Tata Martino taking over the reins, this match will give him an opportunity to experiment with a lineup ripe with homegrown players. It may not have the bright lights of Messi, Busquets, and Aliba, but Miami has seen some growth in recent weeks.
Three straight draws including a 2-2 result in DC that saw 18-year-old Ben Cremashi score his first in MLS. CITY will feel good about their chances though. A motivated group in front of another sold-out crowd at CITYPARK, should take it to Miami from the hop.
Bradley Carnell was guarded about Saturday’s lineup but it’s fair to expect that players like AZ Jackson, Sam Adeniran, and Akil Watts could return to the lineup along with the rested Tim Parker.
A win could have CITY move into second in the Supporter’s Shield standings, a positioning that has strengthened as the season has moved forward.
Some Injury Updates
- Edu Löwen should see a progression this weekend.
- Joakim Nilsson will not be available but is “close” to a debut
- João Klauss had another scan this week but could be cleared to start ramping back up soon. He told us last week that he hoped to start training in the next few weeks.
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