St. Louis City SC took a big step toward building its first MLS roster on Friday, selecting five players from other teams’ squads as part of an expansion draft. Here’s what the newcomers did at dinner after making a few deals as per the picks.
- Four of St. Louis’ picks are still on the roster, as it’s become commonplace for teams to pick players with trade intent during the expansion draft. These his four players are Nicholas Gioachini (ex-Orlando City SC), Indiana Basilev (on loan from Aston Villa for Inter He Miami), John Bell (New England Revolution) and John Nelson (FC Cincinnati).
- The fifth pick, Jake Lacaba, was traded to Miami for $150,000 on GAM.
- While they didn’t select a player from Houston’s roster, St. Louis acquired Tim Parker in exchange for $500,000 ($250,000 each in 2023 and 2024 for cap management purposes) on GAM for Dynamo.
Welcome to City, Nico Gioachini, Indiana Vasilev, Jonathan Bell, John Nelson and Tim Parker!
— St. Louis City SC (@stlCITYsc) November 12, 2022
find bedrock
Ultimately, St. Louis’ headline acquisition, which was made available for selection in the expansion draft, headed to Missouri via trade. Parker is a bona fide MLS senior starting center in his back, having previously played for the Vancouver Whitecaps and New York Red Bulls. The 13th overall pick in the 2015 SuperDraft, he built his stock in Vancouver before earning a trade to New York ahead of his 2018 season. There, he partnered with emerging centre-back Aaron Long to build his one of the best defensive partnerships of his decade in MLS, bringing Parker his two United States national team caps to date. I was.
Parker appeared in 62 games for Houston in his two seasons with Texas. But the appearance of his selection Ethan Bartlow in the first round of 2021 with teenagers of choice his Javede and veteran Daniel Steles gave the transitional club a rare strength to manipulate. area was given. His $1,037,500 guaranteed salary for 2022 may have made it easier for Houston to drop him off, but he’ll arrive in St. Louis within his TAM’s salary band and be 29. gave them a proven leader and a capable backline with his anchor in more years than he did in . The fact that Houston will continue to contribute a portion of Parker’s salary is an added perk for City.
young domestic option
Coming into Friday’s event, the St. Louis roster had 10 players on it. Of those, only two (wingers Aziel Jackson and Jared Stroud) didn’t need international slots. The 2023 expansion side was traded for three more international slots beyond the eight allotted, but it was essential to build a domestic core in the expansion draft.
To that end, sporting director Lutz Fanenstiel, head coach Bradley Carnell and coaching director John Hackworth will be able to contribute to the team’s first season and hopefully maintain a culture in which the club will grow for years to come. We have identified four players under the age of 25 who will help Gioachini and Vasilev have both spent time in the US national pool, with Gioachini (22) already having eight caps and scoring three goals and Vasilev (21) taking the US to his U-20 level. was representing. In an MLS livestream of the draft, Pfanenstiel said the club should negotiate with Aston Villa to bring Vasilev to St. Louis after spending 2021 and 2022 on loan at Inter Miami. said he was confident the club could reach an agreement.
Of the three whose futures are so hazy, Giacchini will likely be the player most familiar to casual MLS fans. After debuting with SM Khan, he broke through. He kept a percentage of future transfer fees — due to the single-entity nature of MLS, his contract remains in place despite his move). Gioacchini, a member of his 2021 Gold Cup winning squad for the United States, has not scored in his six MLS appearances with Orlando.
Gioacchini’s potential is well documented, but Bell and Nelson are using their MLS experience to strengthen their defense. After making his first-team debut in 2021, Bell enjoyed great success for New England, eventually making 27 appearances (mostly at centre-back) and adding two goals. He, along with Parker, alongside Swedish defender Joachim Nilsson (formerly of German side Armenia Bielefeld) gave St. Louis a pretty impressive centre-back depth chart early in their roster building. The 2019 No. 10 overall pick, Nelson made 20 MLS appearances in two years for FC Dallas before being awarded the right by FC Cincinnati in last winter’s re-entry draft. The 24-year-old left-back played for 1,204 as the Ohio team made its first postseason appearance after Costa Rica international Ronald Matarita returned to fitness, but his playing time dwindled. .
One of the biggest gaps between new MLS clubs and more established teams is often felt among younger members. Without the benefit of a well-oiled path from the academy to the first team, the expansion side has real depth and credibility in the backend of its roster when shuffling players expendable by rivals. We may have a hard time finding long-term options on the MLS side. More high-profile veterans such as Alejandro Bedoya, Dax McCarty and Alejandro Pozuelo could have been an option, but St. Louis identified the pitfalls of past expansion sides such as Minnesota United, Cincinnati and Miami, It seems you prioritized finding a player that is not temporary.Optional.
What next for St. Louis?
St. Louis still has some flexibility as they build the second half of their roster.Although he has two designated players at the club, Pfannenstiel pooped on importance almost entirely with the role of dismissed the idea of finding a third In an interview with the league’s website. The team’s first two DPs are Brazilian forward Klaus ($1.37 million guaranteed according to MLSPA) and German midfielder, as of this fall’s MLSPA salary dump (which included St. Louis’ first signing). Fielder Eduard Loewen ($1.29M) has passed former Borussia Dortmund goalkeeper Roman Bürki ($1.63M, top of all MLS players at his position in 2022). The sports director also stated his hopes of contending for a playoff spot during that interview.
Roster-wise, the midfield is currently the thinnest area the kernel can project his lineup on. Central his midfielder on the roster as he only has one, with a double pivot in the 4-2-3-1 base formation the kernel expects three or he will partner Lowen with four depth options We need to identify defensive midfielders who can. This club lacks a clear starting option for him both on the left wing and right back. It is also unclear whether the 22-year-old Czech midfielder Tomasz he Ostrak will be able to facilitate from the first match at a level sufficient for the team to confidently become the starting number 10. German Bundesliga, Austrian Bundesliga, Czech first division.
That said, it’s getting easier to imagine how Kernel’s side could play out, as it prepares to open its yet-to-be-sponsored City Park in the spring. Parker gives them a go-to and respected domestic center, while the other four selections are embedded in a vague core that should be able to stay beyond City’s first season. But the St. Louis roster is pretty solid, with nearly the entire MLS offseason ahead of putting the team together.
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(Photo: Vincent Carchietta/USA Today)
