St. Louis CITY SC entered its second season with a stated—and seemingly-reachable—goal of qualifying for the MLS Cup Playoffs once again. Now, with only eight games remaining in the regular season and CITY 10 points out of the picture, that goal is in doubt.
But don’t count out St. Louis just yet.
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After a dizzying flurry of movement during the summer transfer window, CITY enters the homestretch of the season with a remade roster, a newly-potent attack, and reason to believe that better days are ahead.
“It was necessary for us to make changes.” CITY sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel says. “I think the way the situation developed, we had to develop for 2025 and onwards.”
Pfannenstiel and CITY president Diego Gigliani had a busy summer of roster renovations, course-correcting through talent acquisition up and down the lineup. The additions of Simon Becher, Marcel Hartel, Jake Girdwood-Reich, Cedric Teuchert, Jannes Horn, and Henry Kessler represent a changing of the guard after last season’s roster seemed to run out of steam as the talent deficit caught up to CITY over the course of the season.
“I think we’ve improved at every position we targeted,” Pfannenstiel says.
The fruits of those labors are already evident.
Hartel already has two goals and three assists across his first five competitions. Becher has three goals in five matches, Teuchert has three goals and an assist, Girdwood-Reich has impressed in limited minutes, and Kessler led the club in goals added this past weekend in Portland.
Although there is a narrative that smaller market MLS teams don’t stand a chance in the free agent marketplace, Pfannenstiel found players with a desire to contribute in St. Louis.
“I’m going to be blunt here,” Pfannenstiel says. “If a player wants to play in MLS, but only wants to play in LA, Miami, and New York, then they’re just here for a holiday.”
Beyond transfers, the club continues to fortify its academy system. Although the academy’s impact has been minimal at the first-team level, Homegrown players such as Caden Glover, Mykhi Joyner, and Tyson Pearce have thrived with CITY2 in recent weeks.
Glover has two goals and an assist since returning to CITY2 head coach Bobby Murphy’s starting lineup, including a helper on one of Joyner’s two goals this weekend against league-leading North Texas FC. Joyner has three goals and an assist since playing 90 minutes against the Seattle Sounders last month. With 12 goals this season, Joyner is looking up at just one player in the Golden Boot race.
Meanwhile, with Jayden Reid’s promotion to the first team and Anthony Markanich’s trade to Minnesota, Pearce has officially taken over the left back position for CITY2. Over the last two matches, Pearce, has created a big chance, completed seven passes into the final third, and tallied 13 defensive actions, while winning seven duels. After being named a MLS NEXT All-Star this season, Pearce has risen to the level.
“You won’t be able to properly evaluate the success of the academy in just two seasons.” Gigliani said. “Right now, we’re just working with the player pool that was already here and finishing their developmental path. The real success of our system won’t be felt until Year 10, when players have been brought entirely through our system.”
