It’s been a long three weeks since Bradley Carnell’s men were shrugged off at home by Liga MX giants Club América. But the three-week pause has been refreshing for more than a few CITY players who desperately needed the rest—particularly as St. Louis’ infamous heat and humidity settled over the region.
“We need a break,” goalkeeper Roman Bürki said last month. “It’s over 100 degrees out here and we just play through it every summer.”
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All things being equal, competitors like Bürki would much prefer to be on the field. But rest is crucial to success, especially for a club with meaningful postseason aspirations this fall. For their part, St. Louis players understood their assignment for these past three weeks.
The effect of the downtime was noticeable at practice during the middle of last week, which marked the first time that the full lineup trained together after head coach Bradley Carnell issued the mandate, “Don’t even think about football,” before sending players on their separate ways. Most players left the club to spend time with family, which pleased Carnell.
“We often give so much of ourselves to the game that we don’t take nearly enough time to be there for our families and loved ones that support us,” Carnell said.
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As CITY reconvened for full team activities last week, the head coach was heartened by the scene. Carnell felt his players looked rested and motivated as the the first team training sessions unfolded with a noticeable and welcomed intensity ahead of CITY’s home game against Austin FC on Sunday.
“They’ve come in fit and aggressive,” Carnell said. “Our success against Austin last time around was because of our intensity. The level has dropped at times this season.”
It’s not just the intensity level in practice that pleases Carnell at this point in the campaign. The roster also looks fortified. CITY was active during the recent transfer window, adding Icelandic winger Nökkvi Thórisson and former Colorado Rapids defender Anthony Markanich. The long injured striker João Klauss has been running, and seems to be on his way back from a quadriceps injury suffered in late April. And then there’s defender Joakim Nilsson, whose much-anticipated debut could come this weekend. Nilsson, a member of the Sweden national team, was called one of the best defenders in Major League Soccer by St. Louis sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel earlier this summer. The hype seems to be warranted.
The 6-foot-1 Nilsson had been sidelined with a knee injury suffered more than a year ago. But he made two appearances with CITY2 during the break, starting two matches, scoring two goals off set pieces, and helping CITY2 pick up its fifth clean sheet of the season. In a video posted to the club’s social media channels earlier this week, Nilsson shared how excited he is to finally take the field in a CITY uniform. “We’ve been discussing it for a while: ‘What’s the best plan for me?’” Nilsson said. “… For a long time, I just watched them train. Now, I’m finally there.”
Carnell is asking fans to be patient with the star defender while a new rotation at the back of the formation is worked through. “There’s no rush,” Carnell said. “We can’t discredit the work everyone else has done up to this point.”
