Yoann Damet's masterpiece: St. Louis CITY SC's defiant 3-1 win in San Jose.

Anxiety hung in the air as St. Louis CITY SC traveled to San Jose in hopes of extending the club record unbeaten streak to ten matches. The unease comes following the departure of Marcel Hartel earlier this week, which this newsletter has painstakingly – emphasis on pain – chronicled over the past week. Hartel’s contributions this season are undeniable, but Yoann Damet has stated repeatedly that he would not let his squad use the German’s absence as an excuse to drop their level. 

Instead, Damet’s men stepped up, delivered another performance on par with their, frankly, elite underlying numbers since the loss to San Jose in April. 

“We spoke about that this week in terms of the way we want to play.” Damet said, “We want to stay true to who we are. Doesn't matter to the player. Doesn't matter the place we're playing at. We want to be on the front foot in the way we defend. At the same time, we want to try to take control of the game.”

All of the unease around Hartel’s absence dissipated as Damet’s starting XI jumped through San Jose’s structure and found the opening goal at the feet of a charging Daniel Edelman within eight minutes. 

Damet revisited the XI that kicked off vs RSL two weeks ago, but this time his side was able to outduel and outbattle an unorganized San Jose defensive structure, keeping San Jose to just 0.11 xG in the first half and to just one shot on target – Beau Leroux’s goal off a recycled free kick – over the full ninety. 

“Tonight you saw a full group giving everything, leaving everything on the pitch, and trying to maximize their chance of getting a result.” Damet continued, “I’m really, really proud of the group and the way they’re preparing, the way they’re fighting for each other and the mindset they showed again tonight.”

St. Louis controlled the game by ceding some possession to San Jose and tempting the build-out into playing into their numerical advantage before triggering the press. 

The result: CITY SC limited San Jose to just 0.10 xG in transition, and 0.00 xG out of possession, without sacrificing field position. 

The early goal helped establish that control away from home, striking through a familiar pattern as Sangbin sent Conrad Wallem into the box as he created time and space for a late-arriving Daniel Edelman to beat Angus Gunn as he crashed the top of the box. 

“We prepare every week with an idea of what it should look like,” Damet reflected. “We can prepare as well as we can. The players have to express themselves on the pitch; we try to give them a framework, and then it's their own abilities, their own qualities, but also their own freedom when it comes to the execution, so having those guys express themselves and find spaces and combine and get a goal was very good for the group. I think it rewards collective effort in that moment.”

After the goal, St. Louis continued to pour on the pressure and found their second goal nineteen minutes later when Simon Becher slammed home Eduard Löwen’s corner kick. 

San Jose looked to grab some momentum after the second goal, and even scored right after halftime, but the slump continued as Tomas Totland took advantage of some lackadaisical tracking and sent a cross into a diving Simon Becher, who made it 3-1 with his first brace in nearly two years. If Gunn was more aggressive in claiming Totland’s ball into the area, maybe this goal wouldn’t have happened; instead, the keeper watched on as St. Louis sealed the result. 

It was a testament to the environment that Yoann Damet has cultivated over the past eight months. Players stepped up, outexecuted, and outdueled Bruce Arena’s usually aggressive squad. 

Arena spoke to that effect post-match, saying, “They were physically dominant tonight; our midfield was dominated tonight; they looked like a more athletic and physically stronger team than us.” 

St. Louis won the ground duel battle 17-15 and the aerial duel battle 8-3.

That physical battle was on display throughout CITY’s final goal. Tomas Totland won his duel against Jack Jasinski and sent the ball forward into space, waited for Becher to crash the goal, and sent in a great ball for Becher to clean up.

“The defender kind of backed up on him, and he kind of made eye contact and kind of made a double movement to the back post, and he picked me out.” Becher said afterwards, “We talked a lot about running to the goal this week, It's a really good ball and made it pretty easy on me to just kind of crash the goal, and I knew he was going to play that ball, so he's just getting on the end of it.”

More good news came as Alex Mǎțan and Carlo Holse entered for Löwen and Sangbin in the 69th minute, a debut for the new DP and another strong runout for Mǎțan. Damet noted that he still considers this a preseason for the pair of new arrivals, citing the need to adjust to the system and get a feel for the demands while noting that both have a good base level of fitness.

“It's just building, building physically, building tactically, getting a feel for the team, the moments in the game, how we attack, how we defend. It's very good for the future."

Ahead of the match, Damet said he had a month-long plan detailed for Holse’s integration, and if the first five days are any indication, Holse will make a big impact within the system. Not yet familiar with the patterns of play, it was somewhat clear to see that Holse will still be a positive addition, even as tempers flared between Timo Werner and the right side of the pitch. 

It was a dominant display as St. Louis suffocated the Quakes and found success progressing through both wingbacks. Tomas Totland once again pushed high, and Wallem continued his strong run of results post-World Cup break. 

The win pushed St. Louis into 5th place in the Western Conference with the potential for a big month if they can keep rolling.

Wednesday, they’ll need to rotate against a bottom of the table SKC squad but, as CITY SC knows all too well, there are no easy road derbies; despite suspensions to Kwaku Agyabeng and Moisés Mosquera – and the pending exit of DP Manu García – in Saturday’s 2-0 loss in Colorado.

However, if St. Louis can take care of business in KC, they’ll return home with a chance to move into a home playoff spot when they host top of the table Houston next Saturday.

How much rotation will Damet throw out on Wednesday? There is something to be said for Joyner, Santos, Fall, and Ostrák’s place on the bench Saturday, and Wallem has played better when he is able to be rested at times; it’s worth tracking even as Holse and Mǎțan’s integration is a bit of rotation on its own.

If the stretch from April to May is any preview, Orozco at wingback to deal with SKC’s speed out wide is also a potential, and Perez in the double pivot but with the homegrown not rostered on Saturday, it’s worth keeping an eye on tonight’s CITY2 lineup; a start in San Jose on Sunday night most likely means he won’t start on Wednesday. 

It’s the home stretch now as CITY SC prepares for the US Open Cup semifinal next month. The next stretch of 6 matches will define the first season of Corey Wray and Yoann Damet’s tenure, as his squad will face 4 playoff clubs and one of the only sides hotter than St. Louis over the past 5 matches in the Portland Timbers. Any feelings around the handling of Marcel Hartel’s departure will dissipate if St. Louis can navigate these choppy waters, while the uptick of rumors out of Türkiye indicate Corey Wray’s heavy pursuit of another attacker. 

Standout Performers:

If St. Louis are to stay the course as Holse and Mǎțan integrate, it will come down to the attack finding another level, and Saturday was a good first indicator.

Conrad Wallem continued his improved run of play following the World Cup break with an assist on the opening goal and a frustrating – for Timo Werner – defensive performance on the right flank. The right sided overload created two of the three goals with Edelman’s unmarked weakside run to the top of the box on the opener, and Baumgartl’s ball into the left space for Totland to beat his man on the third goal. All while Edu Löwen picked up his first assist off a corner kick since the 1-1 draw vs Dallas a little over a year ago.

Outside of the assist, Löwen picked up his fair share of the creation engine left behind by Hartel’s departure, 

Then there was Simon Becher.

His brace was his first in almost two years and a much needed result to chip away at his league leading G-xG stat. Since May 1st, Becher is a top 5 goals added player in MLS, and sits 3rd in expected goals, only trailing Kevin Kelsy and Luis Suárez. Unfortunately, those players have 7 and 8 goals over that time frame to Becher’s 3. Thus why CITY SC is active in the transfer market.

However, if Becher can continue taking care of business in the dirty areas without sacrificing the hold-up play that makes him sort of undroppable despite the relative lack of scoring, then it will go a long way as St. Louis integrates a new striker while also adding another dimension for a manager who would love to be able to assemble his roster to combat each opponent’s strengths.

Becher, to his credit, seems to embrace the competition:

“Everybody does their job, everybody pulls their weight.” Becher said, “Everybody helps the guy next to them. I can't say enough good things about the guys around me, but we still have a lot of work to do. We haven't achieved any of our goals this year, and so for us, it's obviously enjoying it and understanding that we're a part of something bigger than ourselves, but continuing to work, continuing to get better, and as a group continuing to chase those high goals that we set for ourselves.”

Simon Becher echoes Yoann Damet’s own words. St. Louis isn’t satisfied, won’t use roster turnover as an excuse, and proved it on matchday 19. 

Confidence is a hell of a thing.