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St. Louis City SC needs a transfusion of pride.

Ten consecutive games without a win. These uninspired players are not playing proudly.

And for the first time since the team’s inception, pride is waning from some of the fans.

If City indeed wants to make the playoffs, as owner Carolyn Kindle passionately told the Post-Dispatch before the first game, then City needs a new leader, a new conductor, a new pride-injector. Coach Olof Mellberg might be a brilliant soccer mind — and was a big-time soccer player — but it’s not translating to his coaching of this team. Sorry, but it’s just not working.

Fire Mellberg to light a fire.

Yes, there have been injuries. Yes, City has played just 14 of the 34 games this year so far. But when a team doesn’t show fight and passion this early in a first-year coach’s tenure, then the coach isn’t the right fit for the team.

Also under Mellberg, the team has switched from its tried-and-true four-man defensive line to a five-man setup. There were some good results early on, but overall this year, it’s been ineffective.

St. Louis hasn’t won a game since the ides of March.

“We’re working on how to improve. ... Accountability starts with me,� Mellberg said Monday at a news conference. “And it should run through the whole club, including the players. ...

“Regardless of the positions you have, or how you are set up tactically, football is, in the end, about winning those individual battles. One v. one situations, second balls, aerial duels. All of that is so important ... especially in the in the final third.�

In its most recent game, a 3-0 loss at Minnesota, St. Louis only tallied 13 touches from within the opponent’s box. And City’s expected goals number was a puny 0.58, its lowest since the March 22 loss to the hands (well, feet) of Philadelphia. The Union is coached by Bradley Carnell, who was City’s coach in 2023 and part of 2024, until a nine-game winless streak led to his pink slip.

Really, last weekend’s loss at Minnesota showed City’s dueling depressing deficiencies. Which is worse: the team’s inability to score or to prevent the other team from scoring?

But the game prior, for me anyway, was the one that captures everything wrong with Mellberg’s team:

Home game.

And against Kansas City, St. Louis’ fierce rival.

And Kansas City had the second-fewest points in the conference.

And St. Louis took a 2-0 lead into the second half.

And ...

St. Louis allowed two second-half goals for a tie that captain Roman Burki said “feels like a loss.�

City deflated.

And regarding this team, the city has become deflated.

Because, look, it’s not just that the team isn’t winning — it’s also that the players aren’t playing hard enough or defending smart enough to change that trend.

Who’s directly in charge of the players? Olof Mellberg.

From the players’ standpoint, defender Chris Durkin shared Monday: “I think effort is not just working hard out there — it’s taking pride in the effort that you put in, pride in the duels that you win. And I think we need a little bit more of that. That’s nothing controversial to say, I think. And I think everybody can muster up a little bit more desire to win.�

Durkin described Mellberg as a straightforward coach. And that approach earned Mellberg enough previous victories that it earned him the City SC job. But a coach must be flexible enough to alter their approach, even midseason, to motivate and maximize players. I’m not saying City needs to bring in Ted Lasso, but the club needs some sort of jolt and rejuvenation. A new personality and, perhaps, new messaging.

After all, Mellberg mentioned that there are “fixable things� with this team. City has the same players — Cedric Teuchert, Marcel Hartel, Simon Becher — who thrived offensively under interim coach John Hackworth following the Carnell firing. And Durkin and Burki are back from injury. Also, some of the other injured players are progressing — and after a U.S. Open game Wednesday (back in Minnesota) and a road game Saturday at Colorado, St. Louis has seven days off.

With 11 points, City is in second-to-last place in the Western Conference. But City is only seven points from the last playoff spot — and there are 20 more matches to play. So the season might feel over, but it’s not over.

Yet, anyway.

“I think points have been made in the locker room that we can get content with just how it’s going — but it takes a real effort to turn things around,� Durkin said. “You have to show up to the facility saying, ‘I’m going to change how we’re approaching every single thing today.’ It’s about the approach. And if you view coming to the facility as, ‘I have to come play soccer today,’ it’s not the right mentality. We get to. And we need to take pride in our job.�