It should be another fun weekend at CITYPARK as St. Louis CITY SC hope to wrap up their home stand with a third straight victory, this time against a wounded Houston Dynamo.
The Dynamo will be traveling to St. Louis off the heels of a 6-2 loss in Vancouver on Wednesday. It’s a rattled squad and one that has only earned two points on the road so far this season.
There are no givens in Major League Soccer, but St. Louis should be looking at this match as an opportunity to make a statement.
It’s a perfect opportunity after last week’s emotional victory over the Whitecaps that didn’t feature the club’s best play… despite leaving the night with three points.
St. Louis has an opportunity to bank some points here as the unbalanced structure of the MLS schedule has backloaded their midweek games, “It’s just another chance for us” Bradley Carnell would say in his midweek availability.
“I don’t look at the table too often, but we have two games up on some opponents and we’re still where we are. Our group likes a bit of pressure, we know at times that we have to challenge each other despite what the outside world is looking at, it’s why we have internal targets.”
Carnell’s refrain is familiar, his messaging has been clear all season, and that is a large reason as to why this club has been able to bounce back from adversity throughout their short time in Major League Soccer.
Carnell is future proofing the concept of complacency in his club, those internal targets keep his team hungry as it’s tempting to let the intensity slip.
Houston will be coming to CITYPARK after losing 6-2 in Vancouver on Wednesday, another losing mark on the league’s worst away record. The Dynamo have allowed 16 goals against through 7 away matches through the 2023 season, an appalling record for a club that has shown moments of brilliance this season.
Injury Relief
The Boys in Red may finally see some reinforcements from the injured list this weekend as both João Klauss and Rasmus Alm have been upgraded from ‘out’ to ‘questionable’. Bradley Carnell said that this would, “probably be one game too soon” for Klauss but Alm is expected to be available after his test day went well yesterday.
CITY have started to turn things around in the attack without Klauss, and players will have one more chance to step up in his absence. Alm and Klauss have participated in training this week with Carnell saying that Alm has been, “fully reintegrated” into the squad ahead of this weekend.
By all accounts, Center Back Joakim Nilsson has been successfully rehabbing and should be returning to training very soon. I’d expect him to start being integrated into games during the League’s Cup and should make his MLS debut after the season resumes.
Mailbag
I’d expect Carnell to return to the 4-4-2 with Klauss back, which means that Célio will return to a bench role, but his impact has been felt, and Carnell has said that rotation will be important over the second half of the season.
Alm’s reintroduction is a more interesting question. There is a world where Stroud becomes a bench contributor and you simply insert Alm into his spot on the wing.
However, the play of both Ostrák and Célio throws a few wrenches into that idea.
Assuming that Ostrak will replace the suspended Stroud this weekend, we could see a much more even split between Carnell’s wide attacking options. There’s also the possibility of Stroud and Alm playing as wingbacks in a 5-3-2, a formation that’s been hinted at throughout the season.
Alm will be given an opportunity to continue as a starter, but the margins are much closer in those positions than at striker.
Lutz Pfannenstiel has hinted at the club electing to not sign a 3rd DP level player, but that doesn’t mean that they won’t be busy during the window. This club has room to improve with a young DP, their u22 initiative slots, and plenty of Allocation Money to potentially buy down a non-DP level signing.
Despite the smoke screen that has been the link to Roberto Firmino, I get the sense that this club will be looking to improve at FB/WB.
John Nelson has lost his job, for the time being, to Center Back Kyle Hiebert.
Carnell likes what Hiebert can do in that position but he is not a wide player, and Selmir Pidro has shown that he is not ready defensively to play the role full time at the MLS level.
I could see the club spending on another young outside back, but there are also options that have been linked to MLS, despite being outside of Lutz’s ideal age profile.