Foreign Exchange: Three questions with the St. Louis Post-Dispatch's Tom Timmermann
St. Louis City SC is one of just two teams below Austin FC in the West standings. But, like Austin, they might be better than their record indicates, especially with one key player returning.
1-4-1.
In today's installment of "why you gotta bring up old stuff," Austin FC has a lifetime 1-4-1 record against St. Louis City SC, dating back to 2023's Opening Day 3-2 loss which lives forever in Verde lore as Kipp Keller's Worst Day Ever.
Against that backdrop — though the lone Austin FC win did come last season in St. Louis, known forever in Verde lore as the "I see everything" game — Verde will host St. Louis on Sunday at 4:30 pm CT.
As we do here, we reach out to our counterparts around the league, bringing us to Tom Timmermann, the team's pool reporter, who covers St. Louis City and the Saint Louis University Billikens (one of the coolest mascot names in college sports) for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (one of the coolest newspaper names in the U.S.).
You'll recognize names like Marcel Hartel (who scored a first half brace against Verde last time out) and Simon Becher from past St. Louis squads, but as we discussed, Joao Klauss is no longer with the team, having moved to the Galaxy, who Verde fans have already seen once this season.
To the questions!
St. Louis is off to a 1W 5L 3D start this season — what do you attribute that to, and is that an indication of how the rest of the season will go, or do they have a turnaround and a playoff appearance within them?
They can’t score goals (see below), they fall behind in almost every game, so are always playing catch up, and whenever they make a mistake on defense, they are punished severely. They think that given time and the chances they’re created, the goals will start to come. And maybe they will. This is probably not a playoff team as they stand right now.
Sporting director Corey Wray was not able to land the designated player goal scorer this club needs in the limited time he had after taking over and hiring Yoann Damet as coach. If Wray can get that player in the summer transfer window, maybe there’s a chance, if the team can keep within shouting distance of a playoff spot in the pre-World Cup period. They are six points out now, and if that number gets beyond 12, it starts to get real tough, especially as well as the West is playing. If there’s a bright side, it’s that their schedule has been tough. By the break, they’ll be done with Seattle and LAFC. Also, they’re getting Eduard Löwen back. He alone can turn a game or two into a win.
However, St. Louis has now gotten to the Elite Eight of the U.S. Open Cup; what's surprised you most about the run so far, and how far do you think they'll go?
Depends on if they have to play San Jose, I suppose, and what lineup San Jose uses. City SC played pretty well against San Jose’s bench in their game last weekend, but the more San Jose regulars got in that game, the more the advantage shifted to San Jose.
If there’s been a surprise in the “run,” it’s that Damet has put out pretty much his first-team regular roster each time. He’s got a bunch of fairly good – at least, we think – guys who haven’t played much at all this season and he has not used the Open Cup to get them some time. There has been no experimenting from Damet in these games. It’s the first team. It’s clear that the Open Cup is seen as the best hope for the club to do something this season.
Only Marcel Hartel has multiple goals for the squad this year; who was the Joao Klauss replacement supposed to be, and where do you think future goals will come from?
They brought in Sergio Cordova on a loan from Switzerland and he’s technically a designated player, though only because his half-year salary gets prorated over the entire year for cap purposes. But he was brought in to just give them another option, and the thought was somebody in the attacking group they have, Hartel, Simon Becher, Sangbin Jeong, Cordova, Cedric Teuchert, would step up and start scoring. Only Hartel has.
When Löwen is ready to start again, which could be Sunday, it looks like he’ll be used as a 10 rather than a 6 because the team could use some help up top, (And his play against Chicago in the Open Cup showed what he could do up there.)
Again, the summer window looms. Cordova’s loan ends in June, and he has one goal, which wouldn’t seem enough to make the team choose to keep him. Teuchert’s contract is up too. So there’s the opportunity for bigger changes up front. An X factor is Mykhi Joyner, who has been one of the leading scorers in Next Pro the past two seasons. He’s done all he can there and is now with the first team, but Damet has been reluctant to use him and force too much on a 19-year-old. He made a great pass against Chicago for Löwen’s goal. He’s probably the most dynamic player in the organization.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
Depending on how Wednesday's doctor appointment goes, long-sidelined striker Brandon Vázquez could see action on Sunday. Also, Owen Wolff may make his season debut.
After 10 matches, Austin FC has 10 points and is outside of the playoff places. But, despite some grim key metrics, the next five matches could prove transformative.
Austin FC players took a very "not too high, not too low" stance following Saturday night's match. But they also got a welcome shutout win and got a solid Copa Tejas boost as well.
Jayden Nelson and Myrto Uzuni gave Austin FC a first-half lead, and Verde was able to see out just its third shutout (and second shutout win) of the season.
1-4-1.
In today's installment of "why you gotta bring up old stuff," Austin FC has a lifetime 1-4-1 record against St. Louis City SC, dating back to 2023's Opening Day 3-2 loss which lives forever in Verde lore as Kipp Keller's Worst Day Ever.
Against that backdrop — though the lone Austin FC win did come last season in St. Louis, known forever in Verde lore as the "I see everything" game — Verde will host St. Louis on Sunday at 4:30 pm CT.
As we do here, we reach out to our counterparts around the league, bringing us to Tom Timmermann, the team's pool reporter, who covers St. Louis City and the Saint Louis University Billikens (one of the coolest mascot names in college sports) for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (one of the coolest newspaper names in the U.S.).
You'll recognize names like Marcel Hartel (who scored a first half brace against Verde last time out) and Simon Becher from past St. Louis squads, but as we discussed, Joao Klauss is no longer with the team, having moved to the Galaxy, who Verde fans have already seen once this season.
To the questions!
St. Louis is off to a 1W 5L 3D start this season — what do you attribute that to, and is that an indication of how the rest of the season will go, or do they have a turnaround and a playoff appearance within them?
They can’t score goals (see below), they fall behind in almost every game, so are always playing catch up, and whenever they make a mistake on defense, they are punished severely. They think that given time and the chances they’re created, the goals will start to come. And maybe they will. This is probably not a playoff team as they stand right now.
Sporting director Corey Wray was not able to land the designated player goal scorer this club needs in the limited time he had after taking over and hiring Yoann Damet as coach. If Wray can get that player in the summer transfer window, maybe there’s a chance, if the team can keep within shouting distance of a playoff spot in the pre-World Cup period. They are six points out now, and if that number gets beyond 12, it starts to get real tough, especially as well as the West is playing. If there’s a bright side, it’s that their schedule has been tough. By the break, they’ll be done with Seattle and LAFC. Also, they’re getting Eduard Löwen back. He alone can turn a game or two into a win.
However, St. Louis has now gotten to the Elite Eight of the U.S. Open Cup; what's surprised you most about the run so far, and how far do you think they'll go?
Depends on if they have to play San Jose, I suppose, and what lineup San Jose uses. City SC played pretty well against San Jose’s bench in their game last weekend, but the more San Jose regulars got in that game, the more the advantage shifted to San Jose.
If there’s been a surprise in the “run,” it’s that Damet has put out pretty much his first-team regular roster each time. He’s got a bunch of fairly good – at least, we think – guys who haven’t played much at all this season and he has not used the Open Cup to get them some time. There has been no experimenting from Damet in these games. It’s the first team. It’s clear that the Open Cup is seen as the best hope for the club to do something this season.
Only Marcel Hartel has multiple goals for the squad this year; who was the Joao Klauss replacement supposed to be, and where do you think future goals will come from?
They brought in Sergio Cordova on a loan from Switzerland and he’s technically a designated player, though only because his half-year salary gets prorated over the entire year for cap purposes. But he was brought in to just give them another option, and the thought was somebody in the attacking group they have, Hartel, Simon Becher, Sangbin Jeong, Cordova, Cedric Teuchert, would step up and start scoring. Only Hartel has.
When Löwen is ready to start again, which could be Sunday, it looks like he’ll be used as a 10 rather than a 6 because the team could use some help up top, (And his play against Chicago in the Open Cup showed what he could do up there.)
Again, the summer window looms. Cordova’s loan ends in June, and he has one goal, which wouldn’t seem enough to make the team choose to keep him. Teuchert’s contract is up too. So there’s the opportunity for bigger changes up front. An X factor is Mykhi Joyner, who has been one of the leading scorers in Next Pro the past two seasons. He’s done all he can there and is now with the first team, but Damet has been reluctant to use him and force too much on a 19-year-old. He made a great pass against Chicago for Löwen’s goal. He’s probably the most dynamic player in the organization.
Verde All Day is a reader-supported online publication covering Austin FC. Additional support is provided by Austin Telco Federal Credit Union. For more coverage, check out Emergency Podcast! (an Austin FC Podcast) wherever you get your podcasts.
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