As Roman Burki moved closer to leaving Borussia Dortmund last year, it wouldn’t be crazy to expect a battle for his signature.
The goalkeeper spent seven years (mainly as a starter) at the German powerhouse, making 210 Bundesliga appearances and starring in the Champions League.
He officially found a new home in March 2022. But when he signed with MLS expansion team St. Louis. Louis City SC, there wasn’t exactly a bidding war for himself.
‘I think (Lutz Pfannenstiel) was the only sporting director who really asked about me,’ he told DailyMail.com.
‘And I could imagine playing in the MLS for a new team, and just the whole project, the whole new club from scratch basically was very appealing to me to help build the club.’
Roman Burki will look to lead the St. Louis in its first season
Previously, he played for seven years at Borussia Dortmund, one of Germany’s powerhouses.
He’s not the only one in St. Louis with something to prove.
Roughly half of the club’s squad have no MLS experience (they played abroad or had yet to rise to MLS domestically), and some, like former Koln midfielder Tomas Ostrak, have negotiated loan spells at their previous clubs. .
‘It was a good feeling for me because it’s like, ‘OK, they really want me,'” he said.
Team manager Bradley Carnell will also be keen to repay the club’s faith in him, as he takes up his first permanent coaching role and leads a “rather inexperienced” team at St. Louis. Louis.
There will be learning for Carnell and his assistants, and Jell-O for his players as well.
But St. Louis – who will make his MLS debut this Saturday against FC Austin – is seeing the challenge ahead as a rallying cry, not a burden on his shoulders.
“We almost want to take that brand (to be an expansion team) and almost go strong,” Carnell told DailyMail.com.
‘Our unity, our bond, our unity. If there are so many of these dangers just around the corner of an expansion team or warning signs or if it’s really tough – forget the first year, I want to use that to energize us. I want to use this to make us stronger. I want to use these messages to build a team and I almost want the team to play with a chip on their shoulder.’
While 12 players on the current roster – including Burki, Ostrak and the team’s two designated players, Klauss and Eduard Lowen – met last year playing for St. Louis’ second team. to update this group.
Bradley Carnell will look to bring an aggressive pressing style to St. Louis. Louis as Head Coach
The defender of St. Louis player Kyle Hiebert puts pressure on Bayer Leverkusen’s Adam Hlozek on November 18
Fans packed the new CITYPARK stadium in St. Louis when Bayer Leverkusen arrived in town
A disciple of the Red Bull system, having served as an assistant (and briefly interim coach) for four years in New York, Carnell aims to bring an aggressive, high-pressure style to the Midwest. It wasn’t so simple to pierce your ideas initially.
“The first week it was like a shock to the system,” he said.
‘It was almost brainwashing, just get the guys focused and dialed in (on) what we’re trying to do. And sometimes it’s very uncomfortable to do the things we want to do, and when we’re telling defenders to step in certain areas.’
Gamers, however, seem to have embraced the high-octane style.
“I loved it,” said forward Nicholas Gioacchini, a Missouri native. ‘It’s difficult at first. Once you get into the groove, it’s magical, it’s amazing.
‘It’s football, it’s being aggressive, it’s being able to put teams in difficult situations and take advantage of it. And I would say we have the team for that. We have the mindset for it, we have the physique for it. And we are ready to continue with their tactics.
Tomas Ostrak is seen during a pre-season friendly against the LA Galaxy on Feb.
The rookie coach’s vision for his team – he wants the team to also thrive on the ball – was molded with the supporters of the new club in mind.
“I think it goes beyond the team,” Carnell said. ‘I think it depends on what kind of brand and style of football appeals to a certain audience. Just thinking about the city of St. Louis and the community, just to play an energized brand of football.
‘We know it’s going to be – yeah, we’re the new kids on the block, so what does that mean? And how can we mitigate this? And we feel that the best way to mitigate it is to be collective, to work as a team.’
Although St. Louis hasn’t kicked a ball in a competitive game yet, the area comes with football fans and a history that predates the club.
Considered the ‘soccer capital’ of the United States, the city has produced 76 members of the US men’s and women’s national teams (including Tim Ream and Josh Sargent of the last men’s World Cup), and the sport has been played there since at least the end of 1800.
CITYPARK has a capacity for 22,500 people and players expect a good atmosphere this year
Carnell, who has referred to the MLB Cardinals and NHL Blues as the team’s ‘brothers’, is fully aware of St. Louis’ historic sporting legacy. Louis.
‘There’s a lot of history and we keep that with us every day,’ he said. ‘It guides us, shapes us, molds us.’
More recently, the love of St. Louis for football has translated into an organized group of fans.
Formed in 2010, the ‘St. Louligans have supported local teams like AC St. Louis in the NASL and Saint Louis FC in the USL Championship (both now defunct) for over a decade.
And with a team to root for now in the country’s top flight, the local response has been huge.
Tickets for the club’s first home game (against Charlotte FC on March 5) went on sale earlier this month and sold out within five minutes. Last November, fans packed into the club’s brand new 22,500 capacity CITYPARK in freezing temperatures as the second The team faced Bayer Leverkusen in the stadium’s first event.
“Without fans there is no football,” said Gioacchini. ‘So the more present they are, the better. The fans really push the players, sometimes that’s underrated, but it’s a big part of the game. And I’m very excited, the team is very excited, everyone is looking forward to seeing how explosive our supporters are.’
‘St. Louis supports all sports,” added team president and CEO Carolyn Kindle on Wednesday at an MLS press event in Manhattan.
’ And so, whether it’s NCAA, professional sports, I think St. Louis was excited to have that pro football team because it’s been talked about for so many years.’
Roughly three months after that performance against Leverkusen, St. St. Louis is gearing up for the real games, and expansion clubs have had a wide range of results in recent rookie seasons.
Nicholas Gioacchini joined St. Louis following previous spells at Ligue 1 and Orlando City
Eduard Lowen (left) and Klauss will be considered as designated players
LAFC quickly established itself as one of the best teams in the league in 2018 and won the MLS Cup last year, while FC Cincinnati didn’t make the playoffs until its fourth season (last year) after debuting in 2019.
Others like Inter Miami and Nashville SC settled between these extremes.
With seasoned MLS defenders Tim Parker and Jake Nerwinski in the squad, as well as Burki in goal and former Arminia Bielefeld defender Joakim Nilsson, the St.
Getting initial results can be a daunting task. Ostrak and his teammates, however, see this pressure as a privilege.
“The energy is really good,” he said. ‘Everybody wants to be a part of history.’