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St. Louis City SC striker João Klauss knows this is a big training camp for him, though possibly not in the way you might expect.

He knows 2024 was not a good season for him. (“I’m very disappointed with my performance,� he said at the end of last season.) He knows more scoring is expected from him as one of the team’s three designated players. But when he talks about what he needs to get done in camp, he talks about fitness. He can’t play better if he’s not playing.

“Especially for me, it’s very, very important,� Klauss said Friday during City SC’s brief stay in St. Louis before relocating to California on Tuesday. “I think it’s when you can build physicality and the strengths for the season. I know I have been having some issues during the season, so I think for me, specifically, this preseason is very, very important. I’ve been pushing myself a lot during the holidays as well, and now preseason, of course, with soccer movements, that’s the most important for us. So yeah, I’m excited for the season.�

Klauss missed 15 games in City SC’s first season to a quad injury and 11 games last season to a knee sprain. In the first season, it interrupted what was looking like a massive year. The second season proceeded at a more modest rate but ended abruptly. When he returned with eight games to go in the season, he scored no goals the rest of the way. His biggest contributions were in drawing defenders to him while teammates scored.

Last year, while Klauss finished tied for the team lead in goals for the second straight season, he had only five and he did it in more than 600 minutes more than he played in City SC’s first season, when he scored 10.

He is, in a way, a living embodiment of the statistical concept of regression to the mean: In City SC’s first season, he scored 4.2 goals more than his expected goals total of 5.8. In City SC’s second season, he scored 4.3 fewer goals than his expected total of 9.3. That 4.3 goals below expected was the third-biggest negative total in Major League Soccer in the regular season; in 2023, his 4.2 was the sixth-highest above expected.

He scored two goals against Chicago on May 11; he did not score in the remaining 16 games in which he played. He’s aware of that, and he feels it, too.

“Sometimes people think for us, it doesn’t change anything,� he said. “Like when you have a bad season, you just go for the next one. But I think as a player, you always want to perform your best, so it’s hard for you when the thing is not happening. And I’m a guy that put a lot of pressure on myself. I know I have a lot of responsibilities in the team, and I’m not here just to have fun. I want to help the team. I want to win. Last year, we didn’t make playoffs, and that’s not acceptable, so we we’re going to work hard for a difference.�

For him, that means starting fit and staying fit.

“Specifically as a striker,� he said, “you have to be able to handle moments of the game that you have to sprint maybe two, three times in a row and then recovery and be prepared for the next one. You never know when you’re going to get the chance. So that’s what I worked a lot during the offseason, to be prepared for these moments. And also, now during the preseason, I’m not a guy that runs the most distance, but my sprints and the sprinting distance is always one of the highest in the team. So I just have to prepare myself a little bit different than the other players and that my body can handle the situations.�

“Klauss didn’t have a terrible season,� City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said. “Klauss had actually a good season when he was on the field. Klauss didn’t score a lot of goals, but I think Klauss worked hard to get other players into scoring positions. But under the red line you have to say he missed a lot of games through injury, and that’s a problem. So we hope that he will be fit this year and then be able to last longer.�

New coach Olof Mellberg said the team’s offense was not sharp in its first preseason game and much improved in the second.

“I think it’s normal,� Klauss said. “It’s a different philosophy, different formation, different style of play, and we have to get used to it also at the same time we have been working in the physical stuff. So you just have to find a balance and understand Olof’s idea as quick as possible. The first game wasn’t that good offensively but very strong defensively, and I think we struggled a lot last year with that. So I think this is a process that he’s starting from the back how he wants to defend, to be a more solid team that doesn’t concede a lot of goals and now they start to work also progressing the ball forward.�

“There’s a lot of focus now on the tactical and the physical aspects,� Mellberg said, “so I think (Klauss) and the others as well have still got some work to do in the technical abilities, and we haven’t worked so much in detail yet in the final third. I think things will improve in that area over the coming weeks.�

Klauss is in the last season of his contract, though the club holds an option for next season. That is another reason for Klauss to hope to have a good season. Since turning pro at 19, he has constantly been on the move, bouncing from one club to the next, sometimes on loan sometimes on transfers, seldom anywhere for more than a season. This will be his third season in St. Louis (plus a half season with City2). It’s the longest he’s been with any one club since he was a teenager, which is one of the reasons he joined the team.

“I’m more than happy to be here,� he said.

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St. Louis City SC’s three preseason games from the Coachella Valley Invitational will be broadcast over-the-air on Matrix Midwest starting Wednesday.

Matrix Midwest is available over the air on Channel 32 and is Channel 6 on Spectrum. The games will also air on City SC’s app.

The first game will be noon Wednesday against Real Salt Lake, followed by 1 p.m. Saturday against Austin and then 5 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 12 against New York City FC. City SC will also play a closed-door scrimmage against San Jose while at the event in Indio, California. There will be no broadcast of that game.

City SC played two games while in the Florida portion of camp, but the games at Coachella will be the first chance to see City SC under new coach Olof Mellberg and will also give a look at the roster combinations he’s looking at. With players building up to 90 minutes and just two off days between the Wednesday and Saturday games, it’s likely there will be different starting 11s in those games.

Academy player chosen for U-17 squad

City SC academy midfielder Lorenzo Cornelius has been called into the U.S. under-17 team for the CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Costa Rica, where the U.S. team plays its first game on Feb. 10. The U.S. group includes the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Kitts and Nevis, and Cuba; the winner of each group advance to November’s U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

This is the second time Cornelius has been called in for the U-17s. He scored two goals in a tournament in August.

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One off-field issue that figures to hang over St. Louis City SC for this season is the future of its star player, goalkeeper Roman Burki.

Burki, one of the top goalkeepers in Major League Soccer and at 34 still in the prime of his career, is on the final season of his contract — he is one of the few players on the team that the club does not hold an option year on. That means teams in Europe will be interested in signing him. Already one offer to the club, from Danish club Copenhagen, reportedly has arrived.

While Burki’s future beyond this season will be in doubt unless a new contract with the team is signed, City SC sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel tried to put to rest any thoughts about Burki’s immediate future.

“I can tell you that Roman Burki will start the season with us,� Pfannenstiel said Friday, “and he will finish the season with us. It doesn’t matter, even if the moon or Barcelona is interested in him, he will not leave St. Louis City SC, and he will stay with us.

“And of course, then there is ’26, ’27, ’28 and there’s a future to talk about as well, but that’s something which we have to figure out with Roman and his agent, and there is talks. Roman is our captain. He’s the best goalkeeper in the league. He’s a very important player for us. And of course, we’re working hard to keep Roman here as long as possible. But right now as I said, doesn’t matter if it’s Copenhagen or anybody else, … So Roman is here, and Roman will stay here, as simple as that.�

“Obviously, I’m very happy here,� Burki said, “but in soccer, you never know, and also you have one career, you have to look what’s best for you, what’s best for me. And so we definitely will have talks, and we’ll figure it out. I’m focused on St. Louis.

“I have no idea (about other offers). I mean, from my perspective, all I can do is play good, you know? And obviously, if you play good, if you bring a performance, there are maybe clubs interested. Especially because in my case, I’m going into my last year, but I’m not really thinking about that right now. I’m focused on St. Louis. I have one more year, and we are just waiting for St. Louis to do something.�

Burki has been the hands-down star of the team, not to mention, as the player with the most success playing in Europe, the driving force in the dressing room when the team has struggled. In 2024, even though he was tied for the fifth-most goals allowed in MLS, he was second in goals saved above expected, at plus 7.6, which reflects how often he was left hung out to dry by his defense and how he regularly was called on to make spectacular saves. He was first in goals saved above expected in 2023, at 9.1, and won league goalkeeper of the year honors. He’s also been one of the most dependable players in the league, starting all but three of City SC’s games in its first two seasons.

City SC is back in St. Louis for a few days of training before making its now annual trip to Southern California for the Coachella Valley Invitational in Indio on Tuesday. City SC will play four games there, the first on Wednesday, in which coach Olof Mellberg said he will start using lineups that likely will reflect what he plans to use when the real games start in late February.

City SC played two exhibition games while at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, losing to the New England Revolution 1-0 then beating New York Red Bulls 1-0. In the first game, Mellberg played different lineups in each half. In the second game, most of the starters went 60 minutes and then a second set of players went the final 30.

“It’s going well, I think,� Mellberg said. “It’s been a good, good camp. We’ve been working hard, trained a lot. We were very heavy actually, in the first game, so struggling a little bit, especially our attacking wasn’t good enough. We worked a little bit on our freshness for the second game, and played really well. So overall, they worked hard, obviously from a physical point of view, but also tactically and pleasantly surprised how well things have worked so far.�

“The offense got together between the first and second game,� said midfielder Cedric Teuchert, who scored the goal in the Red Bulls game. “I think after every session it’s important to talk about the new ideas from the coach, and I think we made a big step in the second game.�

It’s still not a full group, especially at midfield, but it’s getting there. Tomas Ostrak and Celio Pompeu, who missed most of last season because of serious leg injuries, practiced Friday and are gradually being integrated back into the full group. Chris Durkin, still recovering from a knee injury that idled him for the whole offseason, was on the field and doing some running, though he thinks he can be ready for opening day. The biggest issue is with midfielder Jake Girdwood-Reich, who was late in arriving to camp because of a foot injury.

“He’s not OK yet,� Mellberg said. “He was also a sick a little bit during the camp. It was not an ideal camp for him in that respect.�

The team’s newest signee, midfielder Conrad Wallem, was on his way to St. Louis on Friday afternoon when Pfannenstiel talked to reporters.

“He’s picking up right now his work permit,� he said, looking at his phone. “He should be back in two hours and then we still have to do some medical final examinations with him, but he will be available for Coachella and he will be available for the start of the season.�

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Photos: Fresh back from training camp in Florida, St. Louis City SC holds Media Day

Newly acquired St. Louis City SC defender Timo Baumgartl admits it: He’s someone who speaks his mind.

Sometimes it can be a good thing. He’s done mental health ads in his native Germany, stressing the importance of talking about problems with others and about how it has helped him, either dealing with the pressures of possible relegation or with testicular cancer, for which he had surgery and chemotherapy in 2022.

Sometimes it can be a bad thing, like when he criticized his coach with German club Schalke and got suspended.

Sometimes it can be something in the middle, like when he talks about some of his first days in St. Louis, when he arrived just as the big snowstorm hit in early January.

“Now I know that when there’s snow, you guys are really confused and don’t know what to do,� he said.

It didn’t help that he was staying in a hotel near City SC’s training facility, didn’t have a car and had to try to find an open restaurant that he could walk to at a point when much of the city shut down. He finally found one, where he ordered two helpings of nachos because he’s a vegetarian and it was only thing on the menu that didn’t have meat.

“I’m a guy who always says we are as a player, we are role models, so we have a different chance to get our opinions or our things into the newspaper, to other people,� he said, “because we are known as players. So we have a different chance. And I always use it for good things. I was for mental health because it’s important part of my life to talk about mental health, to talk about that it’s a strength to talk with other people about their problems, and I want to use my publicity to do that.�

Baumgartl has a new world to explore and plenty to talk about after signing with City SC in November to strengthen its center back position, where the team’s first choice at the position, Joakim Nilsson, has missed more than half of the team’s games in its first two seasons to a string of injuries. Baumgartl brings experience, playing in the first and second divisions in Germany along with a season in the Netherlands, as well as experience with his teammates, having played on the German under-21 squad with most every other German on the team.

“He’s very good on the ball,� said one of those past and present teammates, Eduard Lowen. “He’s good at breaking lines. He’s good with his head, very good ball position player. And also very strong defensive-wise, I think he’s a great player for the team.�

When Baumgartl was just starting as a pro, he told his girlfriend he would one day play in America. (The two, who met in high school, are still together.) The seeds may have been sown in his hometown of Boblingen in southern Germany, home to a U.S. Marine Corps base offices of several American companies, like IBM and HP. He said sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel first contacted him in May, and after two trips to St. Louis with his girlfriend, he liked it and decided this was maybe the time to live in America.

“I like the culture,� he said. “I like the language. It’s also, for me, a good opportunity to learn the language better. Also for after the career, it’s a good thing. I saw that the league is developing.�

He may not have thought it would happen this soon, though. The 28-year-old Baumgartl signed a two-year contract with Schalke in the German second division prior to the 2023-24 season, but he didn’t make it to the end. He didn’t hit it off with the coach, and when he questioned some team tactics after an early loss, he got suspended for a week. That coach eventually was fired but it didn’t go much better with the second coach, and Baumgartl was benched and then suspended again.

“It was a difficult part of my life,� Baumgartl said. “It was difficult because I take the decision, and every time I take a decision, I’m confident, and I say it was the right decision afterwards. I think about it, and still, I don’t want to miss this experience because it’s helped me in such different ways, like mental strength. But it was not an easy year.

“I’m a guy who has his own opinion, who has an opinion of football, who also tells the opinion. Because in my life, it’s about telling people the truth in the face. That’s one part of me. So I have my opinion, I going to share it. I’m just the guy who had the success of the team in my head. So I want to just bring every team further. So that was the reason why I said it. In fact, at the end, I thought about it, and maybe it was the wrong place to do it, but I did it also in meetings.

“At the end, it was a position of mine to do it. You can think about it, whether it’s good or not. I learned from it. We’re in Germany. We are more sensitive with words. So it may be a mistake from me.�

Baumgartl not only speaks his mind, but he’s studying it. He is in the process of finishing up a degree in psychology from a German university. He just has a paper left to write.

“I’m always interested in what’s going on in the mind and the head of people,� he said. “I was always interested in how groups are working, so that’s why I chose it. And I always said, like, ‘I was good in school. Why I don’t use it for studying?’ Because here, as a soccer player, we have time in the afternoon, and I don’t want to waste it on playing (computer) games. I just want to do something for the head. It’s always important to have a second thing to do in life. That’s what I chose to do.�

And it’s one more thing for him to talk about.

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