St. 香港三级片 City SC midfielder Chris Durkin didn鈥檛 hesitate on Monday to describe his team鈥檚 feeling at the moment as frustrated.
鈥淚 think every individual in that locker room is definitely not happy,鈥 he said.
Embattled coach Olof Mellberg had a simple answer for how best to relieve that frustration:
鈥淲e win,鈥 he said.
Winning has proved elusive for City SC over the past two months, to the point where the first-year coach鈥檚 job is definitely in jeopardy. The team is winless in 10 games, and in its past two games, it blew a 2-0 lead in the 70th minute against its archrival Sporting Kansas City to earn only a tie, then followed that with a desultory effort against Minnesota that ended with a 3-0 loss.
The criticism of the team, which featured weak offense but solid defense to start the season but no longer has that defense to fall back on, has mounted. Meanwhile, the team has been shut out in seven of its 14 games after being shut out eight times all last season.
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Sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, in his weekly radio appearance on KMOX, said he was 鈥渆mbarrassed鈥 by recent performances and the club is 鈥渁t the lowest point we can be.鈥 With just three points out of its past 10 games, the team has already passed the point at which Bradley Carnell was fired last season, three points in nine games.
鈥淚 always put a lot of pressure on myself, regardless of the results鈥 Mellberg said Monday as the team began preparations for a Wednesday match in the U.S. Open Cup tournament against Minnesota. 鈥淲e had a really good start to the season but still wanted to really improve from there. We were still not happy. So obviously, after having this really, really tough period, extremely disappointed with the result and with that, pressure comes not only from myself, from everywhere, but that鈥檚 just part of the job.鈥
As for his job security, Mellberg said, 鈥淚 don鈥檛 think too much about that, to be honest. Now we have a lot of games. You have a game Wednesday, Saturday as well, so we鈥檙e just looking at the next game and how to win that.鈥
A win on Wednesday may only delay things. It鈥檚 an Open Cup match, so while a win there would put City SC into the quarterfinals of the tournament, it would not snap the winless streak or improve its position in the MLS standings. Then on Saturday, City SC travels to Colorado for an MLS match, which is where the real payoff lies.
But if City SC were to lose to Minnesota on Wednesday, there鈥檚 no guarantee Mellberg would be headed to Denver.
The team has met after each of those two games to discuss the problems and then had its regular film reviews of games to start the next week for another round of discussion. The Minnesota game got reviewed on Monday morning before the team hit the practice field, a practice that started about 20 minutes behind schedule after the meeting ran long.
鈥淲e want to do better,鈥 Mellberg said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e looking on how to improve and how to take accountability as well. And that starts with me and should run through the whole club, including the players. I hope good things will come from those conversations and meetings, for sure.
鈥淲e are always trying to be constructive but not pointing fingers too much at individuals. Just really seeing how we can improve as a team and how we can demand things of each other. So we鈥檙e really trying to use those meetings to really pinpoint the areas which make a difference. That obviously also will look at the positives. There were quite a lot of positives the other day, especially from individuals. I thought some of the players had really, really good performances. So a lot of people feel that everything is a disaster when you lose 3-nil, but we鈥檙e trying to be focused on and really see how we can improve.鈥
But the situation with the team is severe. City SC is 27th out of 30 teams overall in the standings, it鈥檚 28th in goals scored and, after posting shutouts in its first four games of the season, now allowed the 14th-most goals. The team no longer has an offense- or defense-minded personality.
And while Mellberg says winning will alleviate the team鈥檚 feeling of frustration, he also said that it鈥檚 no slam dunk to make it happen.
鈥淭hat鈥檚 the secret,鈥 he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 easier said than done at the moment, but for sure, we are obviously looking at all of these things that made us lose the game the other day. And again, it鈥檚 why Minnesota are where they are and we are where we are. It鈥檚 not coincidence. And when you really look at the game in detail, you can see those differences between the two teams, and I think these are fixable things. That鈥檚 why I think the future is good for this team, but it鈥檚 obvious that we need to pick up points very soon.鈥
As if in some meteorological metaphor, while Mellberg and the team were en route to Minnesota on Friday, a tornado hit his home.
鈥淚 live in that area,鈥 he said. 鈥淚 wasn鈥檛 home at the time. My wife was, so it was right there in the Central West End. So, terrible, obviously, especially for the victims and everybody affected. We send our thoughts to them.鈥
In what Mellberg has to hope is an extension of that metaphor, the power is back on at his home.
