FRISCO, Texas - If there was a sliver of hope for St. Louis City SC’s season after a home win last weekend, it disappeared Saturday night when the team took on FC Dallas on the road.
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Dallas, sporting their retro Dallas Burn kits harkening back to their early MLS days, put City to the fire by forcing them to act with the ball at their feet. A stalled offense and a sloppy defensive performance saw St. Louis fall 3-0 to the team right above them in the Western Conference standings.
Most of City interim manager David Critchley’s lineup was unchanged from last week’s home victory over the Portland Timbers. Timo Baumgartl returned to the starting lineup after recovering from a knee injury, and he replaced Jake Girdwood-Reich at center back.
Baumgartl was paired with Josh Yaro in central defense, with Jaziel Orozco starting again as a left back. Orozco’s performances over the past few weeks earned him a first-team contract with the club, and he has been winning the starting job over Jay Reid despite the latter being fully fit.
Tomas Totland took up the right flank on defense. Again, Conrad Wallem and Tomas Ostrak started in central midfield, with Eduard Löwen in the squad but not yet fit enough for more than 45 minutes.
Simon Becher returned to the starting lineup, joining Cedric Teuchert and Marcel Hartel in attacking midfield spots, with Becher and Teuchert on the wings and Hartel floating wherever there was space to be found.
João Klauss didn’t score against Portland in the win, but is still a shoo-in for the starting striker spot, especially with Simon Becher playing more as a winger under David Critchley.
City’s best scoring chance in 90 minutes plus stoppage time came in the first five minutes of the contest, when a Tomas Totland cross fell to Marcel Hartel in the box to the left of goal. Hartel hit a rocket that had beaten Dallas keeper Maarten Paes, but not the crossbar above him.
For the first 20 minutes of the contest, St. Louis City looked the most likely to open the scoring. FC Dallas wasn’t seeing much of the ball early, but for all of City’s possession, the Dallas goal was mostly safe and sound.
The hosts opened the scoring with a play that showcased the best attributes of their star striker Petar Musa. The Dallas club-record signing from Benfica in Portugal held off Timo Baumgartl in the box, and laid a pass back to teammate Kaick, who had made a run through a sleepwalking City midfield. Kaick arrowed a shot into the top right corner of the goal, and City captain and keeper Roman Bürki could only watch as the shot found the back of the net.
“That was the exact moment when the game changed,” said City interim manager David Critchley following the game. “I often see the game played in 10-minute momentum spans, and when the goal went in; the entire shift [of momentum] went to them and away from us… we conceded the goal, and then it's almost like everything fell out the window today. We just went out there and kind of did our own thing. So, we have to analyze the tape.”
City had 70 percent of possession in the first half, and zero shots on target. Dallas’s plan was to sit in a low block in and around their 18-yard box, and force City to play through them to create a chance. They’re not the first team to do this, and they won’t be the last.
“The coaches prepared us for exactly that game, that Dallas wouldn't press us, that Dallas would sit on a low block, and that's exactly what they did,” said Eduard Löwen. “They were on a low block, and they were just like waiting for chances that we gave them, losing the balls easily in transition moments.”
Löwen was introduced after halftime, in hopes that his skill with the ball would be enough to crack Dallas’s defensive shell. For a few minutes after the break, Löwen offered more attacking threat out of midfield than the duo of Tomas Ostrak and Conrad Wallem, but outside of a long-range effort that hit the outside of the right post, Löwen was also held in check by the Dallas low block.
The main positive for City was merely Eduard Löwen playing again. They mustered more shots in the second half, but only two found the target, and only one, a 63rd minute shot from Tomas Ostrak from the left of the six-yard box, challenged Dallas keeper Maarten Paes in any serious way.
Petar Musa, who tallied the assist on Dallas’s first goal, really showcased his skill as a striker in the second half. He successfully caught Timo Baumgartl biting up towards a bouncing ball in the 79th minute, cutting the ball off before it reached Baumgartl, turning and facing the goal and passing a shot into the left corner. Roman Bürki had been left stranded by his defense and Musa’s clinical attacking play.
Musa converted a penalty nine minutes later after the young Jaziel Orozco made his first big mistake since signing a first team City contract during the week. Orozco, on the ground in the box, stuck out a leg in a tired effort to win the ball, but tripped up Dallas substitute winger Sam Sarver instead. Musa put his penalty to the right of Bürki and sealed a 3-0 victory for the home side.
“The mentality was definitely in their favor,” said David Critchley. “Performance was in their favor, and obviously the result was in their favor.”
St. Louis City sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, speaking on 1120 KMOX’s “Sports On A Sunday Morning” in the aftermath of the loss, was far more critical of his team’s performance the night prior.
“I honestly thought it was disgraceful, it was embarrassing,” said Pfannenstiel to Tom Ackerman on KMOX Sunday. “I feel so sorry for the people who traveled there and spent their own money to watch that. There was no energy, no fight… It was not good enough and there will be some hard conversations this week.”
Pfannenstiel pointed a finger at the players, rather than the coaching staff. “There’s nothing the coaching staff could have done better, there was no better preparation. Our ownership puts in the effort to make sure the players have everything they need, I think [the players] are too spoiled, and you’re getting that as a return, a performance like that annoys me.”
“There are players here that have played years and years at the top levels in Europe, guys who are 28, 29 years old who have a lot of experience. It shouldn’t be the young players or the talents coming in who should carry the team, it should be the guys out there who are on good contracts who played at the top level who should be carrying the team.”
The City sporting director also pointed to the contract status of many City players as a source of motivation in a season that will fall well short of the playoffs. Pfannenstiel made strong comments about what could be a busy transfer window, not just incoming players, but outgoing as well.
“We have a huge number of players who are on options [to renew their contracts],” Pfannenstiel explained. “I think they should be smart enough to know they’re playing for their contracts. They’re playing for their future, but the way we performed yesterday, I think its a clear sign that these players don’t want to be here, and we need to change. It will be a busy transfer window again.”
Pfannenstiel rounded off his time on KMOX Sunday morning by giving City fans hope for the future. New record signing Fallou Fall, a 21-year old Senegalese center back who City pried away from Norwegian club Fredrikstad FK, should be arriving shortly. Other rumored signings look to become official in the coming days and weeks as well.
“I’m looking forward to Fallou Fall arriving, I hope he’s here as soon as possible, this week we should have a few more players coming in.”
City are back at home next Saturday, July 26, to host Minnesota United.
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