Foreign Exchange: Three questions about St. Louis City SC with Justin Horneker
Since Austin FC last faced St. Louis City SC, that team went undefeated in league play and got to the U.S. Open Cup's final four. We get into their exploits with someone following them closely.
Here's a fun fact courtesy of Justin Horneker of Talkin' Soccer and St. Louis Magazine ahead of Saturday afternoon's match in which St. Louis City SC faces a relatively rudderless Austin FC: Today's hosts have faced an interim coach-led team three times prior, losing all three.
(Also, Davy Arnaud is a perfect 1W 0L 0D as an interim manager, having beat the Rapids in Verde's 2024 Decision Day contest.)
With that backdrop, and with me already having Justin's questions for his preview, in which I predict, "I also don't know that we're going to get a new coach bounce given how well-liked Estévez was. A new sporting director bounce, however, is absolutely possible!"
To the questions!
Since St. Louis last played Austin, it's been undefeated in three matches, beating Colorado and LAFC (!) and drawing D.C. Has there been something or someone that's been a difference maker in those matches?
It’s interesting because the underlying numbers have generally been worse since the loss in Austin. Caveats of playing on the road and rotating with Tuesday’s U.S. Open quarterfinal in mind, but to put it simply, they’ve been more clinical.
You may remember Simon Becher’s miss of the season in Austin, and that essentially marked Sergio Córdova taking over as the starting striker – although he missed the win in Colorado with an illness that’s been working its way through the club.
The switch has also coincided with Jeong Sang-bin's return to the lineup. Sang-bin offers a different element with his speed and has ushered in tweak, allowing the right wingback to tuck into the midfield instead of taking on the responsibility of pushing the line. The elephant in the room is that Roman Bürki has also picked up his play; he’s been a top-three MLS shot stopper since the start of May, but his injury on Tuesday means that he is questionable going into Saturday, with Ben Lundt looking likely to start.
Yoann Damet's now been a coach for a little more than five months, with a 3W 6L 4D record. That's very close to the record that got Henrik Rydström fired from the Crew last week ... how does the front office, the team and the fan base seem to be with Damet?
Expectations – especially following the João Klauss sale – were markedly lower to start the season in St. Louis than what Columbus was attempting to accomplish in their transition from Nancy.
It is a club in transition in both roster and playing style, so while you were seeing definite frustration within the fanbase and some Olof Mellberg-related trauma after the first month, there was enough to point to in how they were playing to know that things were trending in the right direction. Then you look at how many times they dropped points because no one could finish chances, and it became painfully clear that the problem is not having an attacker who can outscore their xGOT.
All that to say, this is a roster that was assembled to be comfortable against the ball, and very quickly, they’ve morphed into a team that can score at the end of a 15-pass sequence, but they still require more players who are comfortable in possession. The fan base has been annoyed with aspects of Damet’s lineup decisions, but he’s also influenced games with some of his game plan and midgame tweaks this season. It’s also trying to understand an incomplete roster largely assembled by a sporting director who thought he could compete in MLS his way — you may know something about that.
Congrats on getting to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals! It's a fun place to be! To win the trophy, all St. Louis has to do is beat the Rapids and then beat the winner of Columbus-Orlando ... how doable do you think that is, and what has Damet and the players said about it?
I alluded to it above, but it all comes down to the roster decisions and finding that des who will make an immediate impact over the second half of the season. Even then, Damet and the players have all been in on the USOC since the Tulsa game last month. They see it as a way to kick start this new era and make a mark for a club that does not have much history to hang its hat on through three-plus MLS seasons.
“It’s the mindset, the belief, and not setting limits for ourselves,” Damet said after the quarterfinal win on Tuesday. “It's a big accomplishment for the club. It's a big accomplishment for the group, and it gives me a lot of pride going into the break this summer with that ticket for the semi-inal.”
In my mind, any team in the final four can win this competition. St. Louis beat Colorado in Commerce City earlier this month and should be on a stronger footing by the time that semifinal comes around. I’m also obligated to hope for the most narratively satisfying final of St. Louis visiting Columbus. The Crew appointed Issa Tall as Sporting Director, while Corey Wray was thought to be a finalist for the job as the Crew’s assistant GM.
Laurent Courtois was considered for the St. Louis job this winter as well, before landing on Damet. Wray handled the Crew 2 roster during Courtois’s MLS Next Pro title season, and both shared a brief overlap in Montréal – as tends to happen. You also have to wonder where Columbus is right now if they promote Damet immediately into the job vs the failed Henrik Rydström experiment. I’m a sucker for the narrative.
You have to play the games. I would not be surprised if the final is Colorado visiting Orlando, but it would be a big accomplishment in season one of the rebuild in St. Louis.
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.
Voting for the 2026 MLS All-Star Game squad ends Thursday night. Austin FC's Brad Stuver is currently, deservedly, among the vote leaders at goalkeeper.
On Monday morning, Austin FC confirmed that Saturday night's loss to SKC was an inflection point. The club will now search for its third head coach and third sporting director.
Nico Estévez had a lot to say in the wake of Saturday night's 2-1 loss to SKC. Was he indeed making his case to keep his job? And if so, was he convincing in doing so?
Here's a fun fact courtesy of Justin Horneker of Talkin' Soccer and St. Louis Magazine ahead of Saturday afternoon's match in which St. Louis City SC faces a relatively rudderless Austin FC: Today's hosts have faced an interim coach-led team three times prior, losing all three.
(Also, Davy Arnaud is a perfect 1W 0L 0D as an interim manager, having beat the Rapids in Verde's 2024 Decision Day contest.)
With that backdrop, and with me already having Justin's questions for his preview, in which I predict, "I also don't know that we're going to get a new coach bounce given how well-liked Estévez was. A new sporting director bounce, however, is absolutely possible!"
To the questions!
Since St. Louis last played Austin, it's been undefeated in three matches, beating Colorado and LAFC (!) and drawing D.C. Has there been something or someone that's been a difference maker in those matches?
It’s interesting because the underlying numbers have generally been worse since the loss in Austin. Caveats of playing on the road and rotating with Tuesday’s U.S. Open quarterfinal in mind, but to put it simply, they’ve been more clinical.
You may remember Simon Becher’s miss of the season in Austin, and that essentially marked Sergio Córdova taking over as the starting striker – although he missed the win in Colorado with an illness that’s been working its way through the club.
The switch has also coincided with Jeong Sang-bin's return to the lineup. Sang-bin offers a different element with his speed and has ushered in tweak, allowing the right wingback to tuck into the midfield instead of taking on the responsibility of pushing the line. The elephant in the room is that Roman Bürki has also picked up his play; he’s been a top-three MLS shot stopper since the start of May, but his injury on Tuesday means that he is questionable going into Saturday, with Ben Lundt looking likely to start.
Yoann Damet's now been a coach for a little more than five months, with a 3W 6L 4D record. That's very close to the record that got Henrik Rydström fired from the Crew last week ... how does the front office, the team and the fan base seem to be with Damet?
Expectations – especially following the João Klauss sale – were markedly lower to start the season in St. Louis than what Columbus was attempting to accomplish in their transition from Nancy.
It is a club in transition in both roster and playing style, so while you were seeing definite frustration within the fanbase and some Olof Mellberg-related trauma after the first month, there was enough to point to in how they were playing to know that things were trending in the right direction. Then you look at how many times they dropped points because no one could finish chances, and it became painfully clear that the problem is not having an attacker who can outscore their xGOT.
All that to say, this is a roster that was assembled to be comfortable against the ball, and very quickly, they’ve morphed into a team that can score at the end of a 15-pass sequence, but they still require more players who are comfortable in possession. The fan base has been annoyed with aspects of Damet’s lineup decisions, but he’s also influenced games with some of his game plan and midgame tweaks this season. It’s also trying to understand an incomplete roster largely assembled by a sporting director who thought he could compete in MLS his way — you may know something about that.
Congrats on getting to the U.S. Open Cup semifinals! It's a fun place to be! To win the trophy, all St. Louis has to do is beat the Rapids and then beat the winner of Columbus-Orlando ... how doable do you think that is, and what has Damet and the players said about it?
I alluded to it above, but it all comes down to the roster decisions and finding that des who will make an immediate impact over the second half of the season. Even then, Damet and the players have all been in on the USOC since the Tulsa game last month. They see it as a way to kick start this new era and make a mark for a club that does not have much history to hang its hat on through three-plus MLS seasons.
“It’s the mindset, the belief, and not setting limits for ourselves,” Damet said after the quarterfinal win on Tuesday. “It's a big accomplishment for the club. It's a big accomplishment for the group, and it gives me a lot of pride going into the break this summer with that ticket for the semi-inal.”
In my mind, any team in the final four can win this competition. St. Louis beat Colorado in Commerce City earlier this month and should be on a stronger footing by the time that semifinal comes around. I’m also obligated to hope for the most narratively satisfying final of St. Louis visiting Columbus. The Crew appointed Issa Tall as Sporting Director, while Corey Wray was thought to be a finalist for the job as the Crew’s assistant GM.
Laurent Courtois was considered for the St. Louis job this winter as well, before landing on Damet. Wray handled the Crew 2 roster during Courtois’s MLS Next Pro title season, and both shared a brief overlap in Montréal – as tends to happen. You also have to wonder where Columbus is right now if they promote Damet immediately into the job vs the failed Henrik Rydström experiment. I’m a sucker for the narrative.
You have to play the games. I would not be surprised if the final is Colorado visiting Orlando, but it would be a big accomplishment in season one of the rebuild in St. Louis.
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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