St. Louis CITY SC (5-10-12) at New England Revolution (8-15-2) Saturday September 7, 2024, 6:30 PM (CT) Gillette Stadium Apple TV+ MLS Season Pass Here is the mlssoccer.com match information. St. Louis CITY SC (5-10-12, 27 Points, 1.00 PPG, 38 GF, 51 GA, Net -13) 2024 Form: DWDDDLDWDDWLLLDDLLDL (Carnell) WLLLDDW (Hackworth) Home: 5-4-5, 20 Points, 1.43 PPG, 16 GF, 17 GA, Net -1, Form: DWDDWWLLDLDWLW Away: 0-6-7, 7 points, 0.54 PPG, 22 GF, 34 GA, Net -12, Form: DDLDDLDLLLLDD 2024 Results Match 01 - CITY 1-1 RSL Match 02 – CITY 2-0 NYCFC Match 03 – Austin 2-2 CITY Match 04 - LA Galaxy 3-3 CITY Match 05 – CITY 2-2 DC United Match 06 – RSL 3-1 CITY Match 07 – CITY 0-0 FCD Match 08 – CITY 1-0 Austin Match 09 – pig snort kansas 3-3 CITY Match 10 – Houston 0-0 CITY Match 11 – CITY 3-1 Chicago Match 12 – CITY 0-2 LAFC Match 13 – Cincinnati 3-1 CITY Match 14 – CITY 1-2 Seattle Match 15 – Miami 3-3 CITY Match 16 – CITY 0-0 Portland Match 17 – FC Dallas 2-0 CITY Match 18 – CITY 0-3 Colorado Match 19 – City 1-1 Atlanta Match 20 – Vancouver 4-3 CITY Match 21 – CITY 2-0 San Jose Match 22 – Colorado 4-1 CITY Match 23 – CITY 1-4 Vancouver Match 24 – Seattle 2-0 CITY Match 25 – pig snort kansas 1-1 CITY Match 26 – Portland 4-4 CITY Match 27 – CITY 2-1 Los Angeles Galaxy New England Revolution (8-15-2, 26 Points, 1.04 PPG, 28 GF, 49 GA, net -21) 2024 Form: LLLLDWLLLWLLLWWWWLWLLLDWL Home: 4-7-2, 14 Points, 1.08 PPG, 13 GF, 24 GA, net -11, Form: LLDWLLLWWLWLD Away: 4-8-0, 12 Points, 1.00 PPG, 15 GF, 25 GA, net -10, Form: LLLLWLWWLLWL 2024 Results Match 01 – DC United 3-1 New England Match 02 – New England 0-1 Toronto Match 03 – Atlanta 4-1 New England Match 04 – New England 1-2 Cincinnati Match 05 – New England 1-1 Chicago Match 06 – New England 1-0 Charlotte Match 07 – NYCFC 2-0 New England Match 08 – Toronto 1-0 New England Match 09 – New England 1-4 Miami Match 10 – Chicago 0-1 New England Match 11 – RBNY 4-2 New England Match 12 -- New England 0-3 Philadelphia Match 13 -- New England 0-1 NYCFC Match 14 – Nashville 1-2 New England Match 15 – New England 1-0 RBNY Match 16 – New England 3-2 Vancouver Match 17 – Cincinnati 1-2 New England Match 18 – New England 1-5 Columbus Match 19 – New England 2-1 Atlanta Match 20 – Seattle 2-0 New England Match 21 – New England 1-3 Orlando Match 22 – Philadelphia 5-1 New England Match 23 – New England 1-1 FC Dallas Match 24 – Montreal 0-5 New England Match 25 – RSL 2-0 New England All time head-to-head, MLS regular season matches: This is the first meeting between these teams. CITY 0-0-0, 0 GF, 0 GA, net 0 Home versus New England Revolution: CITY 0-0-0 (0 GF, 0 GA, net 0) Away versus New England Revolution: CITY 0-0-0 (0 GF, 0 GA, net 0) 2023 Matches none 2024 Matches none CITY is in 13th place, sits at 27 points, 9 points below the last playoff team and has to leapfrog four teams to reach the last playoff spot. To reach the playoffs, CITY will need 46 points, since the current last playoff team (Minnesota United FC right now) is on pace for 45 points. CITY loses tiebreakers to all playoff contenders and therefore needs 22 points in the final eight matches, a 2.71 PPG pace. Bottom line: CITY must go either 6-0-1 or 7-0-0 to have a chance, and even then, none of the three contending teams (Austin FC, FC Dallas, or Minnesota United FC) can go better than 3-3-1 in their last seven matches. This is CITY’s first meeting with New England, and the reunion match with Tim Parker. CITY and New England are in very similar situations, in 13th place and looking up past other teams at the playoff line. Because of the standings, CITY fans will also be RBNY and Vancouver fans this matchday. Not that this matters much, but New England is 1-2-1 against Western teams and CITY is 2-1-3 against Eastern teams so far this season. Discuss.
PROs assignments: Center Referee Timothy Ford, ARs Andrew Bigelow and Brian Dunn, Fourth Official Mark Allatin, VAR Luis Guardia and AVAR Mike Kampmeinert.
Indy is off the Bad Santa YC naughty list. Disciplinary Summary St. Louis CITY SC Suspended: none YC Caution (one YC from being penned): Tomas Totland New England Revolution Suspended: none YC Caution (one YC from being penned): Ian Harkes, Matt Polster
Broadcast crews. Unfortunately, we get the Taylor Twellman experience this week. English broadcast: Jake Zivin and Taylor Twellman Spanish broadcast: Oscar Salazar and Diego Tabares
Player Availability Report (from Matt Baker) St. Louis CITY SC OUT - injury/illness: Joakim Nilsson, Tomas Ostrak, Celio Pompeu OUT - not due to injury: none Questionable: none New England Revolution OUT - injury/illness: Tomas Chancalay OUT - not due to injury: Xavier Arreaga, Esmir Bajraktarevic, Alhassan Yusuf Questionable: Brandon Bye
Starting XIs St. Louis CITY SC Burki-Nerwinski-Kessler-Hiebert-Horn-Durkin-Lowen-Vassilev-Teuchert-Hartel-Becher Bench: Lundt-Thorisson-Reid-Watts-Yaro-Totland-Klauss-Alm—Girdwood-Reich New England Revolution (in the jersey number order they listed them on their social media): Romney-Polster-Vrioni-C. Gil-Borrero-Harkes-Sands-Miller-Parker-Ivacic-Langoni Bench: Edwards-Boateng-Farrell-N Gil-kaye-Lima-McNamara-Mensah-Wood
Not the result desired if we want to stay in the playoff race, but our undefeated streak remains. Good to see the guys battle back for the draw, especially Klauss adding energy as a sub. Would be nice if we could finish shots a bit better, though. I won't complain about drawing away for the rest of the season if we can manage a few wins at home.
The season's toast. It would take CITY finishing 6-0-0 and all of the teams between CITY and the last playoff spot finishing weaker than they have played to this point for CITY to make the playoffs. Statistically possible, yes. But not even remotely likely. And with CITY’s current form, that playoff trip would be short and ugly. CITY's last realistic target is to finish above the pig snorts. That isn't much comfort. "We don't stink as bad as they do" isn't much consolation. I've held back saying some things about where I think CITY is as a team, but with the season effectively over it's probably time to say them. I know others will see things differently, and I certainly don't want to come across as disrespecting anyone who sees it differently. These are just my thoughts on the day after, and are something of a work in progress. CITY has regressed from where it was under Carnell, and looks like a group of individual players who do not have a shared objective, do not have leadership, do not have common tactics, and do not communicate with each other. There were legit questions about Carnell's training methods, lineups, substitutions and timing, in-game adjustments, and clashes with individual players. I don't want to ignore those, and don't want to fall into the trap of "things were always better under the last coach." That said, Hackworth isn't the guy. The front office better have someone else in mind and make the change in now-time, rather than starting next season with the new guy trying to figure out the players' strengths and how they fit a new system. This was a wasted season. CITY doesn't need another. Many of the new players have skills, but there are serious doubts whether those skills extend beyond their noses. Except for a few notable builds, skillful balls in, and finishes, the new players seem to be showcasing on an individual basis, and not coalescing into a team. This could be the old "this town ain't big enough for the two of us" problem, or it could be poor coaching and player development, or it could be player arrogance. CITY needs to find this out now, rather than taking the 2025 season to figure it out. Chicago has well-paid players, many of whom have individual talent. They aren't a team. They are a mess. CITY doesn't need to become another Chicago. Saturday night's match with New England did not go well. Here are some of the issues I saw in the match. In the first half, CITY had seven unobstructed and undefended centered shots from the top of the 18. One (Kessler's shot) found net. For all the talk about an improved offense, the old nemesis – failure to finish – still exists. Vassilev, Lowen a couple times, Horn, Hartel, and Teuchert a couple times all missed the net, had shots saved, or had shots pretty much inadvertently blocked by players hit on the shots. Kessler’s defense played a role in New England’s equalizer a few minutes later. Kessler ball-chased along the touchline and was torched by Sands, leaving Burki exposed. The worst part of this was the play of the other players. When it became obvious Kessler was not going to hold up the play, nobody shifted behind him to cover. Langoni was free to roam, and Burki was not pleased, for good reason. The lack of situational awareness is concerning, especially this far into the season. New England's next attack by Borrero was saved by the post. The back line was ball-watching, and Burki was quite alone. The same mess continued with Gil's goal a few seconds later, with Burki not only alone but also not really even reacting to the shot. The second half began with New England plugging their vulnerable central defense. This forced CITY wide, and the midfield's inability to maintain possession led to a quick change of momentum. With Indy banged up, Hackworth responded with Thor for Vassilev. That wasn't the substitute needed at that time, and it showed. (Why wasn't Totland used???) Over the next 10 minutes, New England dominated, having three set pieces and two dangerous shots (one blocked, one saved). Hackworth finally subbed Klauss in for Horn, and that shored up the defense. Whatever criticism people have for Klauss, he understands that high lines require defense in the attacking third, and he does all that. He defends touchline-to-touchline and byline-to-byline. His impact was immediate. After Alm replaced Teuchert 10-12 minutes later, the match was much more even defensively. Throughout the match, Durkin seemed uncertain where Hackworth wanted him to play. He saw the ease with which New England blew through CITY's center, and tried to move up to disrupt. Durkin is a solid player, but he isn't a Blom or an AZ, who successfully defensively disrupts while freelancing, and can track back quickly. That left the back line exposed, and – bluntly – Kessler is no Parker. We miss Parker's defensive headers. (We also miss Markanich's long throw-ins and Blom's and AZ's freelancing.) Of the new players, Becher seems most settled into CITY's tactics. Teuchert, Hartel, and Horn seem to be on islands right now, and don't seem to be on the same page as Indy, Thor, Alm, and (especially) Lowen. Maybe this will autocorrect with time, but it seems to be a new constant right now. These are coaching issues. I have very little doubt that Carnell would have addressed these issues already, and quite forcefully. What's Hackworth doing about it? Finally, there have been times in the last few matches where Burki seems disengaged. I hope he isn't checking out. All is not well. JMHO.
New England Coach Caleb Porter was fined $20K and suspended one match for his criticism of the center referee after the match.