St. Louis CITY SC are weathering key absences at the top-end of their roster, as head coach Bradley Carnell confirmed Monday their two Designated Players – striker João Klauss and midfielder Eduard Löwen – await an extended spell on the sidelines.
Carnell, speaking before their Wednesday home match vs. Real Salt Lake (8:30 pm ET | MLS Season Pass), said Klauss likely faces another four weeks out and Löwen is between four and six weeks away from returning. The Bundesliga veterans both have quad injuries they’re nursing.
With those timelines, Klauss and Löwen could miss six league games and possibly return as CITY SC’s Leagues Cup slate starts July 23 at the Columbus Crew. St. Louis are atop the Western Conference standings before Matchday 20, smashing expansion team expectations with 29 points (9W-6L-2D) with half of their inaugural regular season completed.
Klauss & Löwen's impact
St. Louis have been without Klauss, their third-leading scorer (5g/4a in nine appearances), since late April. In the Brazilian No. 9's absence, Nicholas Gioacchini has stepped up centrally and now boasts a team-leading 7g/1a in 17 appearances.
Löwen missed last weekend’s 3-1 loss at Nashville SC, giving a window into life without STL’s second-leading scorer (5g/6a in 16 appearances). As important as the German box-to-box midfielder is, Carnell envisions solutions in Njabulo Blom returning from international duty with South Africa, as well as what Jared Stroud and Indiana Vassilev can do with bigger roles.
“We have to be a little bit flexible and it started with the game plan against Nashville, playing with the midfield that we did,” Carnell said. “We thought that we were quite productive and putting guys in spots and getting guys like Indy to do double, both jobs – six and an eight and a 10. Jared Stroud, same thing – six and eight and a 10. So, we enjoyed that. We liked what we saw, and then with Indy as a double six can always operate.
“We've got [Blom] back on an express flight back to be an option and available. So, see how he gets back into action. He's just basically touched down now. So as one goes, one comes.”
Replacements coming?
As for additional reinforcements? Carnell said they’ll explore options from their MLS NEXT Pro team to “give guys rewards and keep guys growing” within the organization.
There’s also an eye on the MLS Secondary Transfer Window running July 5 to Aug. 2 and bringing in external players. But they’re also wary of shaking up the roster too much.
“We know the window's coming up and we know there's players available,” said Carnell. “We'll assess that and make an educated decision. We're just not going to race into anything. We've achieved so many great things with this group 17 matchdays in and you'll have to pinch yourself if you look at the season and the roster, putting all things into perspective.”
Games likely missed
Should Klauss and Löwen indeed return in late July, as Carnell forecasted, St. Louis would have roughly a dozen matches left while chasing an Audi MLS Cup Playoffs spot.
The club's built a cushion thus far, but missing their DPs for this stretch won't be easy:
- June 21 vs. Real Salt Lake
- June 24 at San Jose Earthquakes
- July 1 vs. Colorado Rapids
- July 8 at Toronto FC
- July 12 at LAFC
- July 15 vs. Inter Miami
Currently, St. Louis are 6W-2L-1D at CITYPARK and 3W-4L-1D on the road.
