St. Louis City 2026 Preview

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·20 febbraio 2026

St. Louis City 2026 Preview

This article was written after recording The Designated Pundits‘s St. Louis City preview for the 2026 MLS Season with special guest Matt Baker from “Flyover Footy.” You can find that video on Spotify below.

2025 Recap

Last year was another season to forget for St. Louis City, the Western Conference team stuck on the wrong side of the Mississippi River. Travel and an unbalanced schedule became a burden, and pushed St. Louis to a 8-8-18 record. They started the season 2-2-1, allowing only one goal over those first five matches but scoring four. Their next ten matches did not go well. They had a single win, in the U.S. Open Cup third round, and six losses with a -10 goal differential. Dissatisfaction with the attacking game led to the firing of coach Olof Mellberg in late May.

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The club’s trade off of attack for defense led the team being successful in neither. They scored only 44 times, 11th in the Western Conference, and conceded 58 times, 12 in the West. While they finished strong, they did so against weak opponents like Austin, San Jose, and Montreal.

João Klauss led the team with 10 goals, followed by Marcel Hartel with 9. Eduard Lowen contributed with 6 goals and 3 assists. The team would gladly turn the page and look ahead toward 2026.

Transactions

St. Louis City had over 12 outgoing transfers, mostly depth and salary dump. Joao Klauss is headed to the LA Galaxy, which represents the biggest loss. Henry Kessler could also be missed at centerback.

St. Louis City brought in Daniel Edelman (above) from New York in a move that could be helpful. Edelman has a lot of strengths, and although he does nothing great, he does nothing poorly either. He has the legs from RBNY ball to succeed in St. Louis.

St. Louis also brought in defensive help with Mamadou Mbacke Fall from Barcelona, and both Lukas MacNaughton and Rafael Santos on free transfers. Dante Polvara (below) from Aberdeen could also start as centerback in the 3/5 back system.

Depth Chart

St. Louis City appear to be yet another club to play 3 or 5 in the back this season. They look to have a 3-4-2-1 with dual attacking mids.

The backline will have Baumgartl, Polvara, and Fall. Mbacke and MacNaughton provide solid backup when needed. Roman Burki continues his great career as a top MLS keeper.

On the wings, St. Louis City have four starting caliber players. They have Rafael Santos and Celio Pompeu on the left, and Conrad Wallem and Thomas Totland on the right. In between, Eduard Lowen and Daniel Edelman lead the midfield corps in the center of the pitch.

The two #10s will be former St. Pauli attacker Marcel Hartel and former Wolves midfielder Sang-Bin Jeong. Atop the attack, with Klauss now with the Galaxy, we have Simon Becher.

With few exceptions, this squad has depth, but much the same quality player. And that quality is not exceptional given current MLS roster builds.

Questions

Which player, outside our projected starting 11, has the best chance to win a job? Mykhi Joyner could replace Sang-Bin at the right #10. He was St. Louis’s first homegrown player, and can operate in tight spaces that Sang-Bin might find too cramped.
What are some realistic expectations for 2026? St. Louis should be bottom third in the Western Conference.
What are some storylines to follow throughout the 2026 season? Can St. Louis City figure out a rebuild? Will they replace Klauss? Did they have a plan to begin with?
What styles does this team match up well against? They could fare well against pressing teams. They have some solidity and could hit on a turnover.
What styles does this team match up poorly against? St. Louis City will struggle against more established systems. They will also struggle, as much of MLS will, with the low block.
What player improves the most in 2026? Cedric Teuchert. He is getting back to health, and his quality is such that other players will have to stay on their A games to keep him out of the lineup.
Which player regresses in 2026? Eduard Lowen. It is a very sad prospect, but he is dealing with family illness as his wife battles brain cancer. His frequent absences seemed to be taking a toll.

Hear more, and follow along as I preview all 30 MLS teams before kickoff of the 2026 season!

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