There probably couldn’t have been a more appropriate day for St. Louis City SC to introduce its new coach.
The city rolled out the white carpet Friday for Olof Mellberg as he met the media for the first time since being hired in November as City SC’s coach, succeeding Bradley Carnell, who was fired in July. While another snowstorm hit outside, the Swedish center back turned coach talked about his plans for the team and then stepped outside on to the snow-covered field at what now is Energizer Park to pose for pictures with his bosses, with flakes falling all around him. Mellberg arrived in St. Louis last Friday, so pretty much all he’s seen of St. Louis is that it snows a lot and when it does, the city doesn’t work as well.
“It was a little bit of a chaotic week,†he said.
The weather, so far, has been a perfect fit for Mellberg, and now it’s time to see how he and the team fit. City SC president Diego Gigliani and sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel spoke of the computer models that pointed them in the direction of Mellberg and then the human impression he made to get the job.
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“We employed a strong use of data to uncover hidden gems around the world,†City SC president and general manager Diego Gigliani said. “Went from a long list to a short list, interview candidates, traveled to meet them and ultimately landed on the person that we believe is going to help us be successful on the pitch going forward.â€
“It was a long process to find the right candidates†said City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel. “It took a few months, but I think that’s what we wanted to do. And I think Olof was the one who came out on top of the list, the guy we wanted. He had lots of other teams pursuing him. … I think for me, the leadership qualities which he learned, just not as a coach, but also as a player, being a captain for big teams like Aston Villa, also for the Swedish national team, playing in all the big competitions, I think is extremely important for how he manages a group, how he leads his staff, how he will also basically be included in the in the football community here, which is a massive thing in St. Louis.â€
Mellberg’s coaching résumé isn’t the longest, mostly spent with the Swedish club Brommapojkarna, a team that routinely has moved between the first and second divisions in Sweden. It’s located in the suburbs of Stockholm and last season had the lowest average attendance — 1,897 — of any team in the first division. But that’s one of the things Gigliani and Pfannenstiel liked about him: Mellberg’s ability to succeed with a team not as well-financed as its competitors.
“It’s a smaller club which was based a lot on young players,†Pfannenstiel said, “but also players which are not the biggest names. They’re always overachieved. He’s very good in developing players. He’s very good in actually forming a winning team. And I think that’s the key for us. We want to have a winning culture. For me, one of the most important thing is his track record in maximizing the potential of the squad. Doesn’t matter if it’s only youngsters, it can be also all the players to get the most out of that what we have on the field or on the training pitch, I think that is the key.
“His work ethic, the way he coaches, the way he interacts his players, is something we figured out pretty quickly by making good research, but also meeting him on various calls, Zoom calls, and then actually flying to Stockholm to sit down, and I think that’s when you get that feeling that you’re dealing with the right person. Working in detail, the work ethic, being very disciplined, the way he was as a player, I think is the key for us.â€
Mellberg comes to St. Louis with no experience with Major League Soccer.
“We also looked at data to give us any comfort whether there was any proven discernible difference between coaches that come here without MLS experience or with and there really isn’t,†Gigliani said.
Mellberg is in charge of what Pfannenstiel called City 2.0, which is mainly, be better with the ball. When Mellberg got the job, he watched all of City SC’s games from last season, and some before that, as well as games played by City SC players when they were with other clubs.
“I’ve seen a lot of qualities,†Mellberg said. “I think we can have more quality on the ball. It’s not a goal I have as a coach to have more possession than the opponent. I want to win football games. I would like us to be a little bit more in control of the games. We were a little bit too open at times. I would like us to be an attacking team, to try to play the ball forward, looking for fast attacks. But to be able to do so and still be in control of the game, you really need to be disciplined in the balance.
“If you have fast attacks and you want to put early crosses in, the whole team needs to be extremely fast in pushing up the lines so that you can continue to put pressure on the opponents, for example. That’s a way of controlling the game without being a tired possession team. Because I don’t like that. I like us to still be vertical, looking for the goal always.â€
He inherits a team which, under interim coach John Hackworth, who is back to being the club’s technical director, finished the season strongly. The club’s points percentage after the summer transfer window would, over the course of a full season, easily put it in a playoff spot. Now Mellberg tries to get the team to take that next step, but there is a lot to like about this roster.
“I think attacking qualities, especially,†he said, “and some of the things I was talking about in possession, I see a lot of qualities, obviously (Marcel) Hartel, (Cedric) Teuchert being a couple of those players who really contributed after the summer but there are other players as well I think we can get more out of in all aspects of the game, not only possession or attacking. I think we have a lot of physical players. We’re going to continue to be a team with high energy, physical teams, strong on set pieces. I don’t really want to exclude anything our game. I like for us to be predictable for ourselves. We should know exactly what we do in all the time, but unpredictable for the opponents.â€
Training camp begins Monday.
