ST. PAUL, Minn. 鈥 St. Louis City SC has two streaks going these days. One is meant to halt the other.
The snowballing streak is a winless run through Major League Soccer play. Saturday night鈥檚 3-0 loss at Minnesota United marked 10 games without a win for City SC, a new club record. City SC (2-7-5) has picked up just three of its last 30 available points.
Up against a Minnesota side that plays a distinct against-the-ball style, City SC failed to break down the Loons鈥 defensive block and struggled to contain the hosts鈥 attacking quality before getting buried for good by yet another late concession.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a different kind of football (that Minnesota plays), but that鈥檚 how they play and those are the players they have,鈥 manager Olof Mellberg said. 鈥淪o even though we knew exactly what to expect, again, we didn鈥檛 manage to handle that.鈥
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But it鈥檚 not just the latest 90 minutes that imperiled City SC 鈥 it鈥檚 what has and hasn鈥檛 happened over the last 900 that has become so troubling.
Enter the second streak: consecutive conversations taking place inside the City SC locker room after the final whistle blows. Call it a heart to heart, a vent session, a come-to-Jesus, whatever. One such talk took place after a 2-0 lead faded into a 2-2 draw against rival Sporting Kansas City on Wednesday.
Another came about after Saturday鈥檚 defeat 鈥 鈥渁 very hard, honest conversation,鈥 midfielder Marcel Hartel said.
The bottom line from the second such discussion this week?
鈥淲e have to fight to get out from this situation because nobody is happy,鈥 Hartel said. 鈥淭he fans are not happy. Our staff are not happy; the team is not happy. We have to find a solution as fast as possible.鈥
More players talked this time around. Maybe it鈥檚 a sign that urgency is building in lockstep with pressure for City SC.
The team will return to St. Louis for a quick training interlude, then head right back to St. Paul for a rematch with Minnesota United 鈥 albeit this time in the U.S. Open Cup, where both clubs are likely to rotate their squads.
Then, next Saturday, comes a road match at the Colorado Rapids, which snapped a five-game winless run with a 1-0 win over Real Salt Lake. After the Rapids, there鈥檚 San Jose at home and Portland on the road 鈥 neither being easy outs. Not until a June 14 match against the floundering LA Galaxy is there a probable path to a City SC win.
With no gaps in the schedule and no guarantees that a result will come down from on high, City SC鈥檚 turnaround will almost certainly need to come from within.
The attack suffered one of its worst outings of the season on Saturday, generating just 10 shots, four of which were on goal, for 0.58 expected goals. That鈥檚 City SC鈥檚 lowest tally since a March 22 loss to the Philadelphia Union.
City SC had more possession than Minnesota, which was no surprise 鈥 the Loons much prefer the other team to have more of the ball.
鈥淲e had difficulties creating big chances,鈥 Mellberg said. 鈥淲e had some possession, but we鈥檙e not able to break their defense down, which was pretty solid.鈥
He made some attacking changes in the second half in hopes of breaking down Minnesota鈥檚 stout defensive block, but those ultimately hurt City SC鈥檚 defense more than they helped the attack.
One such breakdown came in the 78th minute, when City SC, prioritizing numbers forward, left the Loons鈥 Julian Gressel unmarked at the far post to finish off a cross. That goal made it 3-0 to the hosts and, for City SC, was the ninth conceded in the 70th minute or later in the past five matches.
Minnesota鈥檚 first goal came through a savvy backheel goal by striker Tani Oluwaseyi off a corner kick in the 33rd minute. Its second landed through an attacking combo that ended with Loons midfielder Joaquin Pereyra patiently curling a shot around goalkeeper Roman Burki.
Defensive letdowns are a relatively new development for a club that didn鈥檛 concede a single goal in its first four matches of the season but has allowed 11 in its past four MLS games.
Getting some defenders healthy and back on the pitch could help. Center back Henry Kessler was again available on the bench Saturday. Midfielder Chris Durkin checked in for his first game action since March 30.
Eroding depth has been a factor during City SC鈥檚 winless run, and the present scheduling logjam 鈥 the Colorado match will be the club鈥檚 sixth in three weeks 鈥 hasn鈥檛 eased that particular burden.
Mellberg only made one change to his starting lineup for this match, though, dropping Klauss to the bench in exchange for Jake Girdwood-Reich鈥檚 first start of the season and a one-striker system.
鈥淚 believe in the players I put on the pitch today,鈥 Mellberg said. 鈥淚 thought we had a really good chance of winning.鈥
To that end, Hartel agreed. They don鈥檛 think talent is the issue.
鈥淭he quality of the team is for sure enough,鈥 Hartel said. 鈥淲e have so much quality in the team.鈥
To diagnose the problems and find a way to start winning, City SC is talking.
鈥淲e have to look in the mirror,鈥 Hartel said.
