(HOK)
Welcome to the third Season Preview of the 2023 MLS season! We are continuing this journey with Major League Soccer's fresh squeeze, St. Louis City SC. I am so excited to see the atmosphere this new fan base brings into the league and I'm curious to see how this roster looks when it's fully constructed. For those of you who are new to MLS Now's work, thanks for reading today and check out all of what our podcast and blog site has to offer. Let's get into it below.
2022 Recap
Expansion year...
2023 Outlook
Manager: Bradley Carnell (1st season)
Designated Players: Joao Klauss, Eduard Lowen
Roster:
GK: Roman Burki, Ben Lundt
DEF: Joakim Nilsson, Tim Parker, John Nelson, Njaubulo Blom, Jake Nerwinski, Jon Bell, Selmir Pidro, Joshua Yaro, Kyle Hiebert
MID: Eduard Lowen, Rasmus Alm, Tomas Ostrak, Indiana Vassilev, Jared Stroud, Isak Jensen, Akil Watts, Aziel Jackson, Celio Pompeu, Max Schneider
FWD: Joao Klauss, Nicolas Gioacchini, Samuel Adeniran, Caden Glover
Projected Starting XI
How is longtime New York Red Bulls assistant and first year manager Bradley Carnell going to roll out the starting lineup for this expansion side? An easy choice is Swiss goalkeeper Roman Burki leading the back, a player who will most likely be one of the league's best at his position immediately. The left back battle will be strong between Selmir Pidro and John Nelson. Joakim Nilsson, arguably the club's top defender, will be out for the beginning of the season, opening a spot next to Tim Parker that Jon Bell can win. Eduard Lowen and Njabulo Blom will be exciting to see together, while the attacking creativity will lean on Tomas Ostrak at the 10 position. I am very excited to see if Indiana Vassilev can take the next step in his career here in 2023, while the goals will come from Brazilian Joao Klauss. USMNT forward Nicolas Gioacchini can play at the 9 or the wing, how does he fit in the plans? I can't wait to see St. Louis host their first match against Charlotte on March 4th. The fans deserve this moment to show they are America's original soccer city.
Thanks for viewing our third 2023 season preview. There will be a new one out about every single day leading up to MLS kickoff. If you are a passionate fan looking to write about your club, we are actively seeking contributors for MLS clubs this season. If interested, message us on either Twitter or Instagram @MLSNowPodcast. We want to provide an outlet for fans to discuss their club on the site and also guest star on the podcast throughout the season.
Bryce Leslie
Twitter: @bleslie19