Sunday Night Soccer or Sunday Night Surrender?
There are losses.
There are bad losses.
And then there’s whatever that was.
St. Louis City SC went west for Sunday Night Soccer and immediately decided to test a bold new defensive strategy called “let them score early and see what happens.”
Spoiler: what happens is not good.
Kev and I literally said in Episode 3 of the City SC Posse Matchday 2 Preview that we could not give up an early goal to San Diego FC.
We gave up an early goal.
That is what professionals call “foreshadowing.”
The Quick Punch in the Face
San Diego FC scored early. Too early. The kind of early where you’re still adjusting the couch pillows and saying, “Alright boys, let’s go.”
Instead, it was:
“Oh.”
From there, it felt like we were chasing shadows.
No urgency.
No real desperation.
No visible anger.
Just MLS vibes.
And not the good kind.
Stats That Hurt Your Feelings
Possession? They had it by a lot, 63% in fact.
Shots? We had some, none on target.
Energy? Borrowed. Expired. Returned.
Burki once again kept this from turning into a five-alarm disaster. Without him, we are having a very different, much darker blog post today.
He is the only designated player goalkeeper in the league.
And some nights, he is the only reason we look like we belong in it.
Bright Spots (Yes, There Were Two)
Teuchert changed the feel. Immediately.
Pompeu came in and at least looked like he wanted to be there.
Funny how when players actually press and attack defenders, things feel… different.
Strange concept.
Those were the only moments where it felt like we might flip momentum instead of politely watching San Diego pass the ball around like it was a Sunday afternoon training session.
Where Are Löwen and Hartel?
We need Löwen.
We need Hartel.
We need creativity.
We need someone who demands the ball and makes something happen instead of waiting for destiny to gently arrive.
Because when there are still minutes left and we are just content to let them knock it around the back, that tells me one of two things:
We have a losing mentality.
We simply cannot compete at this level.
And if it’s the second one, maybe we need to politely call USL and ask what their parking situation looks like.
The Coach Question
New coach. New system. New era.
Where is the belief?
Where is the fire?
I don’t need tactical dissertations. I need visible urgency. When you’re down on national TV and the body language says “meh,” that’s a problem.
Instill belief. Or fake it better.
The Only Win of the Night
I won some money.
And honestly, that might have been the most efficient offensive performance of the evening.
If you listened to Episode 3, you knew we were circling some of those betting angles.
At least something converted.
What Now?
We are not panicking.
We are observing.
Matchday 2 is in the books. It wasn’t pretty.
New episodes drop this week.
We will:
• Break down what actually went wrong
• Decide if this is system failure or player failure
• Preview Matchday 3 vs Seattle at Energizer Park
And yes, we will absolutely overreact responsibly.
Because that’s what STL Soccer First. Always. is about.
If you haven’t yet, go get caught up:
City SC Posse
Ep. 1: Matchday 1 Recap - 18 Shots. One Goal.
Ep. 2: We Need Some Offense, Man.
Ep. 3: Matchday 2 Preview - Sunday Night Soccer
Episode 4 will not be polite.
Let’s see how they respond at home.
Now excuse me while I check USL standings.
That Was Master-Level Trolling: State of the Union, Olympic Hockey, Fraud Czars & Bathroom Combat
