City Shut Out San Jose 2-0 In First Game Under Interim Head Coach John Hackworth

ST. LOUIS - Winless in their last nine games, something had to give for St. Louis City SC.

Languishing in 12th place in the Major League Soccer Western Conference, nine points out of the last playoff spot, City made the decision to dismiss their first-ever head coach, Bradley Carnell.

It was a bit of a whirlwind 48 hours for City, especially their players, who’ve grown connected to Carnell since he arrived in early 2022. But there was still soccer to be played Wednesday, with City hosting the San Jose Earthquakes.

Even with the managerial change, a home match against the last-place team in all of MLS meant Wednesday night was a must-win, and win City did. Two first half goals propelled City to a 2-0 win, their first win since May 11.

Interim head coach John Hackworth led City for the first time Wednesday. He has been a part of the City setup since the team’s inception, acting as the head coach of CITY2 in 2022 when the team was splitting time between SIUE's Ralph Korte Stadium in Edwardsville and SLU’s Hermann Stadium in St. Louis.

He’s been the team’s technical director/director of coaching since October 2021, working with the team in training every day, and Hackworth has history with some players on the team dating back nearly a decade through his time working as a U15 and U17 coach for US Soccer.

With a new coach, came a few new ideas in the starting lineup. Chris Durkin, midfielder by trade, slotted in at center back alongside Tim Parker. Hackworth coached Durkin when he was on the US Soccer U17 team.

“I thought [Durkin] was fantastic, he hasn’t played center back in a little while,” said Hackworth following the game. “He played there for some brief minutes in Vancouver (last Saturday), but he played there for me a while ago at the U17 level. He was the starting center back in the quarterfinal of the U17 World Cup in India in 2017. So I had total confidence that he could go in and do the job for us.”

Rookie Hosei Kijima, who has primarily been used as a central midfielder, played out on the right wing for Hackworth Wednesday. Again, Hackworth pointed to his experience of seeing one of the City players in their younger days.

“I’ve known Hosei for a long time,” said Hackworth. “He came from IMG Academy where he played with my younger son (Larsen Hackworth) who plays on CITY2. I’ve always thought of him as better in wide spaces, and he’s proved that he’s versatile and can play anywhere.”

With Kijima on the right wing, CITY2 callup and former SLU standout Johnny Klein played as an attacking midfielder in a more-central role behind lone striker Nökkvi Thorisson. Again, Hackworth pointed to the past to help shape his squad.

“Let me start by giving Kevin Kalish, the SLU head coach, a lot of credit,” Hackworth acknowledged. “He played Johnny [Klein] as a false nine, a playmaker in the middle. When I first got to St. Louis in 2021, I went to watch every St. Louis University soccer game I could. Deep history there, deep roots.”

“I think Kevin [Kalish] is a fantastic coach, we’ve known each other for a long time. I’m not a genius, but I like to steal good ideas, and [playing Klein in the middle] was a great idea.”

It’s worth elaborating on these developments because they worked wonders against a woeful San Jose defense, who spent the entire first half on their heels. City were dominant, held 70 percent possession, and peppered the Quakes’ goal with 15 first half shots.

Klein in particular had multiple looks at goal, including a rocket labeled for the top left corner that was skillfully parried away by San Jose goalkeeper William Yarbrough.

The luck that followed St. Louis City around in 2023 made a brief return to CITY PARK Wednesday night, creating the first City goal. In the 28th minute, Eduard Löwen curled a speculative shot on goal, a shot that took a hop off the turf that Yarbrough clearly misjudged, and the ball harmlessly bounced into the back of the net in front of the supporters in the north end.

“It's always good if you hit the target because anything can happen,” said Löwen postgame. “At that moment, I obviously thought the goalkeeper was going to save it.”

As the first half wore on, City continued to pile on the pressure, and found their second in the 41st minute through a wonderfully crafted free kick routine.

Löwen and Indiana Vassilev both stood over the free kick, offering a left and right-footed option. Löwen ran up to the ball as if he would cross, but faked and backed away as the Quakes defensive line reacted.

Kijima, standing in the middle of the box, intentionally just offside at the start of the play, makes a quick move to get onside right as Vassilev swings in a left-footed cross. The San Jose defensive line didn’t pick up Kijima, who was unmarked for an easy tap-home goal from the top of the six-yard box.

After the game, Hackworth and Vassilev praised Alex Langer, City’s set piece and goalkeeper coach for drawing up the second goal.

“That’s an Alex Langer set piece special,” said Hackworth. “Alex deserves all of the credit, and then you have the execution. One of the last things we talked about in the locker room tonight was execution on restarts. It can be the difference for us, and it’s certainly much easier to see a game out when you’re two goals up rather than one.”

“It was a very good set piece, Alex Langer works so hard on set pieces,” Vassilev credited. “I think he’s one of the best goalie and set piece coaches in the league. He works his ass off, and tonight it finally clicked. Throughout the season we’ve had a lot of good set piece opportunities, so I’m very happy for him.”

San Jose made a bit more of an effort to attack in the second half, and City ceded possession to the visitors a bit more, but Roman Bürki was largely unbothered, facing no shots on target in the second stanza. Bürki was only asked to make one save all game, and was likely only sweating because of the humidity in St. Louis Wednesday evening.

City held their two-goal lead until the final whistle, and the over 22,400 in attendance left happy, or at least relieved, that City was able to find their first win in nearly two months.

Vassilev, who assisted both goals, wanted to keep things in perspective following a comfortable home win.

“We played San Jose, right? No disrespect to them, but they are last in the league,” said a brutally honest Vassilev. “No disrespect, but if we would have come up here and lost to San Jose at home, you guys would have killed us.”

“It’s a double-edged sword, if we beat them it's like ‘Oh well you guys just beat San Jose’, but now that we’ve beat them it’s ‘oh well we expected you to beat them’ so it’s hard to compare. Having said that, I thought the team played really well together.”

Vassilev, like each City player and Hackworth at the postgame press conference, spoke to how difficult it has been for the team to lose Carnell in the fashion they did. For some, Carnell was their first professional coach, for many, it’s the first time they’ve had to deal with a coach they’ve grown connected to being fired.

The team has, seemingly, internalized Carnell’s departure as a result of their own inability to perform on the field.

“As a team, it’s been an interesting dynamic, this is the first time that a lot of us have lost a coach,” said Vassilev. “A lot of people navigate that differently. For me individually, it’s been tough, I think that’s okay for me to say. It’s the first time I’ve lost a coach midway through the season, for me it’s been difficult, but at the end of the day it’s part of the job.”

“On a separate note, I think Brad (Carnell) was a fantastic coach for this club. I think at a certain stage, players have to respond and back their coach up, sadly I feel like that came a little too late for us. I feel that in a lot of these games under (Carnell) we played quite well and had specific moments where we should have stepped up as a group, as a collective, and for me personally I think we failed (Carnell) a little bit.”

“It's been a tough week, there’s no doubt about that,” said Hackworth following the win. “Players, the staff, the club -- when you make a change to the head coach, it’s never easy. So in a very short amount of time, I think you saw the resilience of this group, a group that has been successful in the past. It hasn’t happened for us so far this year, but I’m really proud of them for coming out and coming together in a really tough moment and getting a result.”

“There were a lot of emotions for everyone in the building,” said City captain Roman Bürki on the team’s reaction to Carnell’s dismissal. “Just to say a few words about Bradley and what he has done for the team, for the club, it’s amazing. I told the guys ‘This is the result of us, the players, for failing over and over again to perform on the field’. We are responsible for (Carnell’s firing). Maybe we didn’t have the right focus or concentration.”

“I think Roman said it pretty well after (Carnell) got fired,” said Löwen Wednesday night. “That not only Bradley in this season was failing, if you want to put it that way, but it was all of us together. There’s been a difference, in the past few weeks, we’ve been the better team in a few games but we just couldn’t win.

“At the end of the day, the only thing I can say is I respect Bradley a lot. I had a great relationship with him, he supported me in everything. He was a great coach, and he knows that I wish him all the best in the future.”

“I’m just grateful for Bradley and what he’s done for me,” said Kijima, on the night he scored his first MLS goal at CITY PARK. “He was my first ever pro coach, and he gave me this opportunity. I couldn’t be more grateful to him.”

The Wednesday win helps a physically and mentally wounded St. Louis City team turn the page from the Bradley Carnell era into a new future with John Hackworth at the helm. With the emotions involved in Carnell’s departure, Hackworth became the ideal candidate for his long-standing relationships with players.

“I’ve had Hack (John Hackworth) as a coach, or known him, for eight or nine years,” remembered Indy Vassilev. “He is probably the one person that the club could have put there right now, for me, where I can go and give everything for him. That made it easier for me to play for him, because I’ve known him and I have so much respect for him.

“That (Hackworth) was the one who succeeded (Carnell) made the moment easier. Like I said, I’ve known (Hackworth) for a long time, and any time he plays me, I’ll give my everything for him.”

It’s another two-game week for City, who will hit the road this weekend to take on the Colorado Rapids on Sunday evening, looking to get a result and keep the momentum going in the right direction under new leadership.

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