51黑料

At the end of this week, City SC will be 40% of the way through its season, so the season is no longer young. The concerns are real. This team has to start winning 鈥� now.

鈥淵eah, it鈥檚 concerning,鈥� head coach Olof Mellberg said Tuesday. 鈥淲e want to make the playoffs, and we鈥檙e not there, and it鈥檚 going to take really hard work from all of us to turn things around. I mean, we have explanations, and we have a pretty good idea of the reasons behind us not picking up enough points and we鈥檙e really looking forward to the future. We think that will change and definitely starting tomorrow, really good possibility to get the three points and to build from there.鈥�

City SC, winless in its past eight, expects to have captain Roman Burki back in goal, though goaltending has been the least of its problems, for its match with cross-state-plus rival Sporting Kansas City, which kicks off at 7:55 p.m. Wednesday at Energizer Park, and could have injured center backs Henry Kessler and Joakim Nilsson available as the team鈥檚 injury list continues to shorten.

Defensive midfielder Chris Durkin practiced on Monday but not Tuesday because of a knock on that first day of practice, and his return is also close. Midfielder Eduard Lowen remains out for personal reasons.

鈥淭he last game, we were the better team into the second half,鈥� Mellberg said. 鈥淲e were in Seattle as well. We need to be better for 90 minutes. We haven鈥檛 been able to push the last 30 minutes in the games, not in Seattle, definitely not in the last game (San Diego) either. So, important that the match coaching is there and that we make the right changes and that we are able to push and handle the games as well.鈥�

鈥淥f course, we are very disappointed about the results so far,鈥� said midfielder Marcel Hartel, who will be giving the captain鈥檚 armband back to Burki. 鈥淲e have a very good team, but we have games where we have a good second half or good first half, but we need to play for 90 minutes. Against San Diego, we had a good game for 80 minutes, and then the last 10 minutes, they score two goals. We have to keep going. We鈥檙e not allowed to put our heads down. We have to go out with confidence, with courage and try to do our best. In all the games we have good moments, but we need to get more out of the games.鈥�

One person City SC won鈥檛 have Wednesday is Mellberg. The coach picked up his third yellow card of the season Saturday, which carries a one-game suspension. Running the team during the match will be assistant coach Azrudin Valentic (commonly called Vali), who came with Mellberg from Sweden.

鈥淚 would definitely prefer to be there,鈥� Mellberg said. 鈥淕reat opportunity for us to get the three points and to give the whole club and the fans some positive energy.鈥�

MLS rules for suspended coaches say that Mellberg can鈥檛 be in the locker room, bench area or field level starting from 90 minutes before the game until the referees have returned to their locker room after the game. So Mellberg will be watching the game from a booth upstairs.

鈥淢y first year in charge in BP (in Sweden),鈥� Mellberg said, 鈥渁nd when we won the league, that game, I was suspended, and Vali was in charge. So I have some good memories of being suspended. ... We need to really go through everything in detail beforehand. So not only the game plan to start with, also the match coaching and different scenarios in the game so that Vali and the rest of the staff are prepared.鈥�

City SC is tied with Kansas City for 12th in the Western Conference with 10 points, and its nine goals are the fourth-fewest in the league. No one on the team has scored more than twice in 12 games, no one on the team has more than three goal contributions. Mellberg said everything is on the table, including formation and stylistic changes, such as attacking up the middle of the field rather than from the wings.

鈥淵eah, I think we鈥檙e looking at all those things, and I really look at myself and what I鈥檝e could have done better, especially in these last couple of games,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 obvious that against Seattle, the last 30 minutes were not good enough. So there were things that I could have done better, for sure, whether it鈥檚 tactically or changing the right personnel in the last game as well. It鈥檚 a challenge for us now with the squad we have with players on the bench, they鈥檝e been injured for a long, long time and just came back. So it鈥檚 not fair to expect them to be on top of their game, so they鈥檙e contributing as well and doing well.

鈥淏ut yeah, for sure, that鈥檚 something we鈥檙e looking at, because you can see a big difference in especially in the last couple of games, between the first 60 minutes and the last 30. We definitely need to be better. We鈥檙e building our physique as well. We had a few players that had to come off because they were extremely tired, so building on their fitness as well so they can play for longer.鈥�

A big problem is finishing. City SC is 6.8 goals below its expected goals total, the second-biggest gap in the league. Much of that can be attributed to how the team handles the ball in key moments. Nobody on the team is scoring.

鈥淵eah, I see that,鈥� Mellberg said, 鈥渁nd we spend a lot of time in training in the final third. Some things are technical that you can work on, and other things are movement options, where we really try to help them so they create space for themselves as well, or for the teammates so they can get in better positions, also to finish. We鈥檙e working in all different ways to try to get goals from everybody.鈥�

Whatever the problem, Mellberg acknowledged, it is now urgent for the team to get a win.

鈥淵eah, I think so,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 see major concerns of players not confident or playing to their ability. Where we are in the table, we need to get the points in because we want to make the playoffs, so for sure.鈥�