St. Louis CITY SC finally begin their MLS adventure on Saturday when visiting Austin FC at the daunting Q2 Stadium (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass). For the Midwestern city, this long-awaited moment could not come soon enough.
That’s not just because the “Gateway to the West” is often regarded among the United States’ foremost soccer talent incubators – from 1950 World Cup stars to modern-day Premier League standout Tim Ream and MLS all-time great Taylor Twellman – but because the expansion side has been building towards this season opener for three-and-a-half years, ever since being announced as MLS’s newest team in August 2019.
Building the roster early
With their MLS debut delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel (appointed in August 2020) wasted no time building his roster, signing most of CITY SC’s key international players by last summer. That approach gave those like captain goalkeeper Roman Bürki and DP striker Klauss time to acclimate to the city and build chemistry, even occasionally playing together for St. Louis CITY2 in the 2022 MLS NEXT Pro season.
Bürki spent his entire life and career in Europe before signing with St. Louis in March 2022. But as he’s developed deep roots in his new city, a holiday trip to visit friends and family in Switzerland felt more like visiting a foreign country than the other way around.
“After one month, I was like, 'I want to go home. I want to go back to St. Louis,’” Bürki, who played for German giants Borussia Dortmund from 2015-22, told MLSsoccer.com at the league’s Media Marketing Day in January.
Klauss, who signed two weeks before Bürki, had a similar appreciation for the extra acclimation time, and doubly so as a long-term deal could end some instability from loan spells away from his previous club (Bundesliga’s Hoffenheim). St. Louis CITY will be the Brazilian forward’s sixth team, in his sixth different country of residence, in six years.
“I was moving a lot, and I missed the moments where you really feel you are home. Every season I was thinking, ‘Oh, where am I going now?’ I think now was the right moment to stop,” Klauss told Extratime’s David Gass at Media Marketing Day. “I like the city. I like the people in St. Louis. I like the club. These six months was really important for me to find my apartment, to see the city and organize everything before MLS starts.
German pressing and Midwestern grit
Beyond the soft-opening many of CITY’s players enjoyed in MLS NEXT Pro last year, the team should be extra prepared for Matchday 1 thanks to a crystal-clear tactical approach honed by Pfannenstiel and head coach Bradley Carnell – a disciplined, pressing mentality borne through their decades worth of cumulative professional experience in the top tiers of German soccer.
“I have played in Austria in a really similar system, so I know what [Carnell] wanted from me and from the team. So that helps me adapt faster. It’s a clear system: transition, high pressure, win the ball close to the goal and try to score,” said Klauss, who spent one of his loan years at Austria’s LASK, where they played a similar “gegenpressing” style.
Pfannenstiel also worked in Hoffenheim’s front office from 2011-18, an eight-year stretch that saw the club rise from bottom of the Bundesliga to the UEFA Champions League while doubling down on their press-happy system. Meanwhile, Carnell cut his coaching teeth in MLS as an assistant and interim manager at New York Red Bulls, a team whose style leans so far into frenetic pressing that league pundits often dub it “Energy Drink Soccer.”
“Sometimes it’s not fun,” Klauss said with a chuckle. “It’s a lot of work, but that’s how soccer works now. Everyone has to run, everyone has to defend, everyone has to attack. I think it will be good for me.”
Bürki, whose former club Dortmund has its own successful history with pressing systems, is optimistic about the approach: “We will be a team who works really hard and I think we'll be a team who outworks most of the teams. When I look at all the players we have now, they are physically really strong. And I know from last year, we already tried to implement how we want to play in MLS as well, and it was just a lot of running and the players did it really good.”
For Pfannenstiel, the selfless, team-oriented style can also represent a deeper one-for-all mentality that resonates with St. Louis’ broader ethos as a city.
The philosophy has even guided portions of his roster build, with the sporting director offering the following analysis after selecting John Nelson – a possible starting left back – in the 2022 MLS Expansion Draft: “I think he somehow reflects that Midwestern mentality which we want to stand for. Be modest, be hardworking, get a head down and work and work. That is what the people want to see out there.”
Playoff hopes?
Regardless of preparation time and commitment to a proven system, St. Louis must contend with the harsh realities that face any expansion team during its first year.
None of MLS’s last five newest entrants finished their inaugural season better than seventh in their conference. While Atlanta United and LAFC proved great year-one finishes are still possible, those clubs had invested heavily to bring in prime stars like Carlos Vela and young talents like Miguel Almiron, the type of splashy moves CITY SC have purposefully avoided.
Pfannenstiel reiterated many times over the course of their roster build that “the team is the star.” Still, Bürki takes solace in entering a league where parity reigns supreme and the Audi 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs, recently expanded to 18 teams, create more opportunity for the Western Conference group.
“I'm excited with the playoff system, and how it shows it's always very close, competitive, every team can beat another team, so it's always open,” Bürki said. “And I like it way more than just the richest club wins all the time – how it is often in Europe. I like competitiveness and that we come as an expansion team and we immediately have a chance to win.”
Klauss has his eyes set on the playoffs as well, even if he knows it’s a tall mountain to climb: “Everyone says the first year is real tough, but I’m always dreaming big, so I think playoffs will be nice.”
Whether or not CITY make the postseason, their state-of-the-art downtown stadium and established fan-first culture point to one quintessentially St. Louis trend: history is in the making.
It all starts this Saturday, then carries through an inaugural MLS match at CITYPARK on March 4 vs. Charlotte FC (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass).
“It is sort of like Christmas Eve, because Christmas Day obviously is March 4 when we're having our first match at our stadium, so I think I'm just excited for my team,” said St. Louis president, CEO and owner Carolyn Kindle at an MLS Season Pass launch event.
“It's been countless hours, sleepless nights, and being able to finally celebrate all of this coming together, it's worth it from that perspective.”
