Yoann Damet is ready to move forward as St. Louis CITY SC faces San Jose.

What a week, huh?

St. Louis CITY SC returns this weekend with a trip out west to San Jose, seeking revenge for the 2-3 loss to the Quakes last April. At the time, Bruce Arena’s Quakes were sitting on top of the Western Conference while St. Louis were still searching for their 2nd win under Yoann Damet.

Since then, both clubs have experienced seismic shifts. 

Both goal scorers for CITY SC – Córdova and Hartel – are no longer with the club, while the rotation has built with larger roles for Sangbin, Löwen, Ostrák, Mațán, and Ault. The version of St. Louis returning to San Jose is more dynamic in its rotation than it was nearly four months ago, despite the loss of Hartel and the early days of Carlo Holse’s place in the lineup. 

St. Louis has shown – specifically in the first 65 minutes vs RSL – that it can still dominate possession and control the field tilt without Hartel in the lineup but they lacked a level of danger in the attack that they’ll need to sort out going forward. To Yoann Damet’s credit, he is confident that his side has taken in the intricacies of his play style, but whether he has the players, specifically Mațan, Löwen, and Holse, will need to be seen to be believed. 

“Collectively, I think the plan's always been the same in terms of how we want to defend, how we want to attack, understanding the player profiles, understanding their strengths, their weaknesses, Damet said. “In some areas, we can make some compromises at times that we need to make. But other than the understanding of the player profile, we're sticking to who we are because that's what we've been building since day one.”

Löwen will most likely slot into Hartel’s left side either as a 10 or in the double pivot depending on the matchup Damet is attempting to exploit, leaving Mațan to potentially line up opposite Holse – or presumably Sangbin, who Damet also conspicuously mentioned can play as a forward partner – among other wrinkles yet to be seen. 

Is the increase in positive g+ players – including a vastly improved Conrad Wallem – since the break only possible because of the threat Hartel brings?

At the end of the day, Hartel will be missed, not just for how he leveled up in Damet’s system this season as one of the best 10s in MLS, but also in the leadership qualities that saw him wear the captain’s armband on multiple occasions. 

“He's a player that I really enjoyed working with.” Damet said, “We had a very good relationship and still have. I think he did the best for his family. Considering his situation, he for sure is going to leave a gap right now for the team, on and off the pitch. He was someone who had some very good leadership qualities, on and off the field. I think he was loved by the players; they enjoyed having him around on the pitch. You saw his influence this year, so for sure it's going to be a transition period for us, but at the same time, we've got a very good group of guys that have been working really hard. We've got some new players joining us as well. So, I'm excited about the future and the group of guys we've got, that again know the plan is full of abilities and really committed to the project.”

It’s tough that this transition comes as St. Louis are playing the best soccer in the history of the club. Since the loss to San Jose, only Houston has won as many points, and only Portland has had more expected points over the last 9 in MLS play. IF St. Louis are to move forward, Damet will have to successfully onboard Holse into his tactical setup over the next month while maintaining the competitive edge they’ve managed since the record ticked upward following a tough opening stretch.

Conversely, San Jose have been in the bottom 5 in points and expected points earned over that period, just beating out Austin and Toronto. Even worse, the Quakes have been outscored 9-3 since the World Cup break, continuing to miss Niko Tsakiris, who appears to have been load-bearing in the middle of Arena’s setup this season. 

That isn’t to say that St. Louis should be overly confident heading out west, but they are a bit lucky that this tough 6-match stretch kicks off with away days to a struggling San Jose – even though their underlying numbers have been better since the break –  and a derby at SKC – who have fallen back to earth over the last two matches. 

Can CITY SC extend the unbeaten streak to 10 and beyond? If so, it’ll be quite the feather in Yoann Damet’s cap. 

Tahir Reid-Brown

St. Louis also added a new player to the group on Thursday in USYNT prospect Tahir Reid-Brown.

Reid-Brown was acquired from Orlando City for $150,000 in 2027 GAM and up to $300,000 in conditional GAM, while Orlando also retains a sell-on percentage. CITY acquired a 20-year-old, left-footed, USYNT regular who has mainly played left back in Orlando’s system. He’s an unfinished product but has been a solid defensive piece who can progress the ball on the dribble with just over 200 MLS minutes this season. It’s a position of need for St. Louis, especially in the defensive sense, and clearly with TRB already slotting into first-team training immediately after the deal was announced on Thursday morning. This is in the same vein as the acquisition of Zach Zengue, a young player who hasn’t quite made the leap but shores up the floor with clear upside and the ability to also slot in as the left sided CB in more of a traditional full back role.

Corey Wray is starting to build a cadre of young, hungry players who will hopefully develop into key pieces during what the Sporting Director sees as the opening of CITY SC’s competitive window next season. As much as every new signing that isn’t a striker is going to drive fans into a continuous madness… but I digress.

San Jose hires Gavin Wilkinson as a special consultant…

Somehow, Gavin Wilkinson keeps crawling out of the trash to land jobs in Major League Soccer. Wilkinson was the long-time President of Soccer in Portland for both the Thorns and Timbers. He was fired for simultaneously ignoring allegations of domestic violence against Timbers player Andy Polo, even signing the player to a contract extension before the Timbers terminated his contract following the public release of the official charges against him. The MLS commissioned report was not kind to Wilkinson, but it was only after he was also named in the Yates Report for his extensive role in enabling Paul Riley’s harassment and abuse during and after his time in Portland, along with allegations of sexism and homophobia, that Portland moved on. 

Wilkinson was finally let go at the end of 2022, but he wouldn’t be without a job for long. Ahead of the 2024 season, Sporting Kansas City hired the disgraced executive despite a “diligent and exhaustive process” as the club’s Sporting Director, before agreeing to part ways just 8 days later after an incredible amount of fan backlash. 

Unfortunately, the San Jose brain trust of Bruce Arena and John Fisher won’t be as tapped into the fan backlash, especially with Wilkinson brought in to help carry the load before the club launches a full Sporting Director search this weekend.

It’s a bizarre partnership for Bruce Arena in his second chance following his resignation from New England in 2023. The MLS investigation found “allegations that [Arena] made insensitive and inappropriate remarks." and Arena, to his credit, took responsibility for his mistakes in New England, even as the exact conversations remain unknown.

Now, Arena threatens to raise questions about whether he is truly remorseful for his behavior in New England after another instance of the old guard failing to uphold its own stated principles. 

It’s hard to read the Yates report and come away with the idea that Wilkinson deserves to work in an MLS front office, especially with the type of judgment that saw Wilkinson attempt to obfuscate the Peruvian charges against Polo. 

It’s a black mark on the Quakes, and it’s a black mark on the league that fan backlash has been the only thing keeping Wilkinson out of the league… and now, he’s found a club that won’t care to listen.