Photography courtesy St. Louis CITY SC
Caden Glover first struck in the 62nd minute of St. Louis CITY2’s eventual 3-1 victory over San Jose on Sunday, heading in a cross for an equalizing goal. Eight minutes later, Glover struck again. This time, the 16-year-old snuck through the box, free from his marker, and booted a ball into the net from close range to put CITY2 in front. The brace illustrated the quality and potential of the Columbia, Illinois native, and you better believe CITY head coach Bradley Carnell is paying close attention.
Does that mean Glover will factor into the club’s plans as it navigates the homestretch of the regular season? Carnell isn’t ruling anything out. But as CITY has added to its forward depth, it may be a challenge for Glover to carve a role with the senior squad before the season runs its course.
“It’s tough,” Carnell says. “We’ve acquired Nökkvi [Thórisson]. Nökkvi plays one of three positions, as well. We have Tomas Ostrák, we have Célio Pompeu—we have guys up the depth chart.”
Glover, though, remains an intriguing prospect for the club. Signed to a Homegrown deal before the season, Glover has impressed at the developmental levels this year. He’s scored six goals in 16 games for CITY2, and represented St. Louis at last month’s MLS NEXT All-Star Game. Glover’s next appearance for CITY will be his second after debuting at Chicago with a 13-minute appearance on May 13.
In the meantime, Carnell will continue to closely monitor Glover’s progress to determine when he might be best suited to contribute at the top level.
“With Caden, we’ve seen the types of goals he can score—really technical, high-caliber goals,” Carnell says. “He’s really in his groove when he’s with CITY2, or even when he went down to the younger age group just to play playoffs or games on the line with his age group, and he blends in well. Then you bring him up to us and he has to get used to the pace, the tempo, and the physical side of it. I’ve seen a big leap in the last couple of months. He’s getting there.”
Tim Parker’s big weekend
When he scored the first goal in club history during the season opener at Austin, Tim Parker grabbed the ball and placed it under the front of his jersey. For Parker, it was his way of announcing that he and his wife, Kelsey, were expecting their first child.
On Saturday, not long before CITY’s game at Orlando kicked off, baby Rory arrived.
“Perspective changes for you as a father,” Carnell says. “Life changes for you as a father. Your focus now becomes something else. Your focus now becomes Rory. We wish the Parker family the best. Baby and mom are healthy. That’s the most important thing. I know what [becoming a parent] did for me, what it felt like. I know feelings all too well. It’s just something that you can never explain in words. I’m glad that Tim’s getting to feel those feelings.”
Nilsson feels good after 2nd appearance
After making his first start for CITY on Saturday, Joakim Nilsson said after the match that he felt fine after logging 72 minutes. At the same time, the Swedish defender, who missed more than a year due to a knee injury, acknowledged that he was curious to see how his body would respond during the days to follow.
The verdict? So far, so good.
Saturday marked the second-most minutes Nilsson has logged thus far in CITY’s system—he played 78 minutes in his final tuneup for CITY2 on August 7. Still, Carnell says that the club will continue to be careful with Nilsson, especially as CITY navigates a week of three games in six days.
“Sometimes after the CITY2 [matches], his knee would swell up just slightly and that’s like growing pains again, getting used to the rigors of what a game dictates,” Carnell says. “But, surprisingly, he came back out of this game saying, ‘Oh, I feel pretty good.’ What does pretty good feel like, and how do we sensibly manage and monitor him? That’s up to us and the medical staff to see what is best for him. Three games in a week is tough. We’ll have to just see how we do that. We want to be smart.”
