ºüÀêÊÓƵ

On the video screens in the ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC locker room this week, there have been two lists, complied by the coaching staff as they went through game films in the aftermath of the team blowing a two-goal lead and getting a 4-4 tie with Portland on Saturday. One is a list of things the team can do to help its cause, and the other is a list of things not to do. Look at a wall in the dressing room, and there’s a reminder.

“There are points we did well,� said midfielder Marcel Hartel, who had three assists in the game. “There are points we don’t get so well in this game. And everybody can see it, how we want to play soccer, how we want to defend, how we want to play with the ball, and also some things outside from the page. Everybody can read it and can do our best to do it.

“It is not only for this week. I think it will be on the television the rest of the season. So it’s our, I say, benchmark, for every game.�

The 4-4 tie against Portland, settling for one point instead of three at a point when City SC needs every point it can get, is a high price to pay to drive home those lessons, but that’s the best City SC can do at the moment. The team now gets one of its toughest tests of the season, facing the Los Angeles Galaxy at 1:45 p.m. on Sunday at CityPark (Channel 2, free on Apple TV) in its first home game since Aug. 9. The Galaxy are in first place in the Western Conference, second overall in the league, and could clinch a playoff spot this weekend if one of many scenarios come to pass, all of which require a Galaxy victory.

Playoffs are still possible for City SC, but its scenarios are a lot simpler: Win just about every game. It took 44 points to get to the playoffs in the West last season; to get there, City SC will have to win seven of its final eight games.

“We know that we’re if we want to go in the playoffs, we have to win most of the games now,� Hartel said, “and we will start it on Sunday against L.A.�

But the Portland game stung, with City SC leading by two goals at 2-0, 3-1 and 4-2 and not able to close the game out.

“All we can do is move on and look to improve,� interim coach John Hackworth said. “(The film sessions) have been tough. They’ve been really honest. I would give the players a ton of credit, because they’re being proactive in how they’re trying to problem-solve with the coaching staff. So when we’re looking at film, it’s not just me trying to dictate them. ‘Do this, do this.’ It’s ‘What do you guys see?’ And they made some really good points.�

City SC’s offense has been overhauled over the past month with players like Hartel, Cedric Teuchert and Simon Becher, but it should get two of its old-guard members, Klauss and Rasmus Alm, back this week. Both haven’t played since June because of knee sprains and both will see only time off the bench in the first week back, but it gives Hackworth more offensive options than he’s had since he took over for Bradley Carnell at the start of July.

“Look, Simon’s done an unbelievable job,� Hackworth said, “but before we had Simon, we were playing Nokkvi (Thorisson) out of position in the nine (striker), and we didn’t really have a nine, so multiple guys were being asked to do that. Indiana (Vassilev) played at the end of the Portland game as a nine. Now, bring back Klauss, not only do you have a nine, but you have Klauss, and that’s going to be that’s going to help us in so many ways, because he’s a really good defender as well as attacker, whether it’s on set pieces, whether it’s just willingness to press, whether it’s willingness to track back, he gives us a better defensive structure for sure.�

Center back Joakim Nilsson return to action is still at least a week away, and Hackworth continues to hint at other changes on the backline, where Jannes Horn may be ready to move in at left back ahead of Jayden Reid and Tomas Totland could take a seat at right back to either Jake Nerwinski or Akil Watts. With the team having allowed four goals in three of its past five MLS games, Hackworth has made a priority of tightening up the defense.

Njabulo Blom could be on the way out soon. The defensive midfielder has played in only one of the past seven games and seems unlikely to make the game-day roster on Sunday. Hackworth said Friday the team was talking to another club about Blom.

The Galaxy were already one of the best teams in the league but got a little better in the summer transfer window by signing Marco Reus, an attacking midfielder who played for Borussia Dortmund in Germany and had a goal and an assist in his debut last week. Reus was briefly linked with City SC because of his friendship with City SC goalkeeper Roman Burki, who acknowledged he was trying to recruit him, but City SC never really had a chance, with Reus interested in flashier markets than ºüÀêÊÓƵ.

“He’s an amazing, amazing player,� said Hartel, who played against Reus in Germany. “He’s one of the best players in Germany. We have to be careful about him. We have to take him under pressure that he can’t do the magic things he can do. And by the end, we have to defend as a team. All of us have to defend, from the striker to the goalkeeper. We defend together. We should go together and we defend our goal together. We can do it.�

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

For ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC's Jannes Horn, big adventure in America with memories of home in Germany

• Tom Timmermann

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC's Klauss, Alm return to practice, could see action Sunday vs. LA Galaxy

• Tom Timmermann

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC finishes with a thud, lets two precious points slip away in tie with Portland

• Tom Timmermann

Behind his right ear, ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC left back Jannes Horn has two very small tattoos, one right above the other. On top is the number 21, below it the number 23.

“Now I have to add 38,� he said.

Twenty-one and 23 were the uniform numbers he wore at previous stops in his career, but more recently, 38 has become his go-to number and the one he’ll wear with City SC. Three and eight are the first two numbers of the five-digit postal code for his hometown of Braunschweig, Germany. He has the first three numbers, 381, tattooed on his left arm, much like a ºüÀêÊÓƵan might embrace 314, as a point of pride for his hometown.

“But the number 381 is too big for the jersey,� he said.

Horn is proud of his hometown, a science and development hub in north central Germany near Hannover but which to many Americans evokes thoughts of sausage.

“I wouldn’t say small but not that big city in a Germany,� Horn said of his hometown, with a population about 250,000. “My family lives there. A lot of friends left there. So yeah, I’d love to be there. That’s the reason I put the number 38 on my back.�

But for now, Horn is looking forward to a big adventure with a move to America to play in Major League Soccer for City SC. Horn is on loan to the team from his former club Nurnberg for a year, after which the club has an option to purchase his contract.

Horn could be the player City SC has needed for some time, an answer to its revolving door at left back. The team has tried Selmir Pidro, John Nelson, Kyle Hiebert, Anthony Markanich, Nikolas Dyhr and most recently Jayden Reid in that spot, and while some have shown promise, including Hiebert, a converted center back, and Reid, the regular starter there since the beginning of July, none have been able to take hold of the job and make it their own.

Enter Horn, who has the longest resume of any of the candidates, one that includes eight seasons in Germany in either the first or second division of the Bundesliga. He made his MLS debut on Saturday in Portland, coming off the bench in the 69th minute — which, considering the game had 16 minutes of stoppage time, gave him a bit more playing time than might have been expected for someone playing his first game since his last season ended in May back in Germany.

“It was nice,� he said. “It was nice because the stadium in Portland was also good. It was different for me because I never played on (artificial) turf. I think the last time, when I was 15, 16 years old, I trained on turf. But since then, never. The city was nice, and for me, the first half was good because we’re 3-1 in front, and then the second half is so deep. They shot so many times on our goal. That’s when we want to change this. We want to defend better.

“And that’s why I’m here. I want to help the team with my experience from the German leagues. I want to help the team. I want to bring in my left foot with some crosses, make some assists. And help the team with my mentality as well. That’s why I’m here.�

One thing he didn’t waste any time doing was getting a yellow card, picking up his first for a late tackle 20 minutes after he entered the game. (Only Tomas Ostrak, who got one 17 minutes into his first game, has gotten one quicker in his MLS career for City SC.) Horn suspects it won’t be his last.

“I came a little bit too late, but that’s OK,� he said “Last year, I got nine yellow cards. So that’s my type of playing. I know it’s not that good, but I want to be aggressive. I want to be present. I know, better without a yellow card, but we’re playing soccer.�

Horn’s acquisition didn’t get as much attention as it may have otherwise because it came the same day that City SC traded center back Tim Parker to New England. Horn played center back last season in Germany, but for most of his career, he’s been a left back, and that’s how City SC is looking at him.

“I think my biggest strength is my left foot,� he said. “I hope you will see it on Sunday.�

Horn said while he had played his entire career in Germany, making his Bundesliga debut with Wolfsburg in 2016 and then moving to Koln, Hannover, Bochum and Nurnberg, he and his wife also had their eyes set on America. They also have a son about to turn 2 years old.

“We love to make adventures and it’s a big adventure, and in this league, in the stadium, in the city, I think it will be good,� he said. “To play in the MLS (in recent) years, it was a dream to play here because many more players from Europe come to America because the league is getting bigger and bigger. The teams are getting better and better. It’s so nice because the facilities and everything is so good, better than in Germany. My family is so happy to be here.�

Horn has been here three weeks, but even in that brief time, he’s learned America is very different than Germany — and not just because it gets much hotter.

“Everything is different,� he said. “Where can I start? Everything, the streets are so much bigger, the parking spots, everywhere, so much bigger, and Germany is so close (together). Everything is different. But I like it.�

City SC academy player joins US U-17 team

Lorenzo Cornelius, a midfielder in City SC’s under-18 academy, has been selected for the U.S. under-17 team for a tournament that starts Friday in the Czech Republic.

It’s the first training camp and competition for the U-17s leading up to next year’s CONCACAF championship and the U-17 World Cup in Qatar.

Cornelius, from St. Peters, started out with ºüÀêÊÓƵ Scott Gallagher club before joining the City SC academy. Cornelius was part of the City SC U-16 team that reached the semifinals of the 2024 MLS Next Cup.

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC's Klauss, Alm return to practice, could see action Sunday vs. LA Galaxy

• Tom Timmermann

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC finishes with a thud, lets two precious points slip away in tie with Portland

• Tom Timmermann

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Losses, injuries — and an eye on 2025 — spurred ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC's active transfer window

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Klauss and Rasmus Alm, two key parts of the team’s offensive attack when healthy, have been practicing with the team and could return to play for the first time in months Sunday when City SC plays the Los Angeles Galaxy at CityPark.

“That was really nice,� interim coach John Hackworth said.

It’s an encouraging sign that City SC needs amid a disappointing season. Both have been out since June with knee sprains, and both were on the field Wednesday with wraps on their right knees. Klauss took part in all of practice, Alm took part in most. Hackworth said Klauss is “for sure� going to be available for Sunday, but there was still some uncertainty about Alm.

“Ras, I’m a little more conservative with,� Hackworth said, “just because I want him to be pain-free in all of his actions, and he’s not right now. I don’t think any of them are ready to start, necessarily, but it’ll be nice to have them.�

Alm hasn’t played since June 1, Klauss since June 22.

Klauss still leads the team in goals with five, though new acquisitions Cedric Teuchert, Marcel Hartel and Simon Becher, who have played only one or two MLS games each, are showing signs of closing ground quickly. Nokkvi Thorisson, with three goals in the past four MLS games, has four on the season.

Alm has appeared in only 12 games this season, but the team generally does well when he’s in the lineup, with the team winning two and tying seven of his 12 games.

Joakim Nilsson, coming back from a hamstring injury, has practiced with the team as well but didn’t get in a full session because of a knock.

“Unfortunate that Joakim took a knock there because he was back and looking really good Monday and Tuesday as well,� Hackworth said.

It’s hot

An extra challenge at practice this week has been the heat. The temperature hit 102 degrees Tuesday in ºüÀêÊÓƵ, and City SC, which practices in the late morning, usually starting around 10:30, hasn’t been able to avoid it.

“Today was a little better than yesterday,� center back Henry Kessler said, “but yesterday was scorching.�

“It’s been brutal,� Hackworth said. “Today’s not so bad, but the last two days have been really tough. We’ve had tough sessions, but the players have battled through it. I think it’s good preparation. I hope it’s very hot and humid (Sunday) so the L.A. boys will melt in the Missouri sun.�

Hackworth said the game plan in practice wasn’t changed by the extreme heat.

“You have to adapt to the environment in our sport,� he said. “So it wasn’t like we wanted to do something different. We had a plan for the week, and we stuck to it. It was probably nice that today cooled down a little bit because it might have been tough to get from yesterday to today with the intensity that we had.�

City SC’s game Sunday against the Galaxy kicks off at 1:45 p.m., and the forecast for then isn’t quite so bad, with a high of 88.

“Here, it’s so hot,� said newly arrived German left back Jannes Horn, “and when you go inside, it’s so cold. So it’s weird for my family. ... Yesterday was so hot, I told my wife, I never saw something like that. I never expected this.�

Where’s Blom?

Njabulo Blom has not played the past three games and has appeared in only one of the past seven. The defensive midfielder from South Africa was suspended for the Portland game in Leagues Cup because of a violation of team rules, and for the next two games, both on the road, he was eligible but not chosen for the travel roster. With the imminent return of Klauss and Alm, spots on the 20-player game-day roster are going to get even harder to come by.

Blom was the odd man out of the last drill on Wednesday. He kicked a ball around with Alm while the practice went on.

Hackworth hesitated when asked about Blom’s situation.

“He’s available for selection,� Hackworth said, after searching for what to say and asking a staff member for assistance.

Hackworth downplayed the part of practice in which Blom didn’t take part.

“That’s the role that we asked him to play,� he said. “So we were doing 11 v. 11 at the end. It’s another part of that. ... I wouldn’t read too much into that, without saying anything else. I would just say: Hey, look, if somebody got hurt, Njabulo was in there.�

Outside back issues

Whether Horn starts on Sunday instead of Jayden Reid is up in the air as Horn gets into game shape after a long layoff, but Hackworth raised questions about the right back spot as well, where Tomas Totland has started almost every game.

“Right back and left back are really tough decisions right now,� Hackworth said, “and there’s others, but those two ... and they have to be better. As well as we’ve played with our outside backs, I’m not telling any secrets, we’ve given up goals at those two positions and we, in particular, need to defend the far side, the far post if you will. We have to do that better. We have not been good at that.�

Club America scored on Totland in the Leagues Cup, playing a long ball in his direction. He got turned around and then beaten as Brian Rodriguez scored the goal that made it 1-0 on the way to a 4-2 win for Club America.

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC finishes with a thud, lets two precious points slip away in tie with Portland

• Tom Timmermann

ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC

City SC gets back to work after Leagues Cup break with small margin for error

• Tom Timmermann

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Losses, injuries — and an eye on 2025 — spurred ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC's active transfer window

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Sure, the offense scored 4 goals, but the defense allowed 4. A tie in Portland means ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC made no headway in its quest for the playoffs. City beat writer Tom Timmermann and co-host Beth O’Malley discuss the team’s performance and outlook.

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There are ties that feel like a win, and there are ties that feel like a loss. ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC’s 4-4 tie with the Portland Timbers on Saturday night felt like a catastrophe.

With a chance to record a breakthrough win on multiple fronts and breathe hope into its faint playoff hopes, City SC could not hold on to a two-goal second-half lead. It could not hold on to a one-goal lead with a man advantage with 15 minutes to play. At a point in the season where City SC was going to have start doing things it hadn’t done all season, it did exactly what it has been doing all season.

“Really don’t know what to say,� said a clearly frustrated interim coach John Hackworth. “It’s hard to imagine coming to a place like this and scoring four goals, being up and then just losing one vs. one defensive battles. Usually when you go to Portland, and if you could say, ‘Hey, you’re going to get a draw out of the game,’ you would take it. But it doesn’t feel that way. And that’s not what we had a chance to do. Definitely feel like we let two points slip there. Nobody to blame but ourselves. ... This is definitely an Achilles’ heel, our Achilles’ heel right now, because we’re giving up too many goals, and it’s very frustrating.�

“With the performance we had, it really stings, to be honest,� said forward Simon Becher, who scored a goal and set up another by getting fouled in the penalty area. “I feel like we should have walked away with three points, but going on the road and playing like that for 110 minutes almost really stings, especially when you work that hard and you put that much in the game.�

At a point in the season when City SC needs wins to keep alive its playoff hopes, a tie is practically a loss. City SC came into the game probably needing seven wins in its final nine games and now probably needs seven wins in its final eight games. City SC started the night 10 points out of the last playoff spot and finished it in the same spot. And in City SC’s position, treading water is not a survival tactic.

City SC has given up four goals three times in its past five MLS games (four times in its past nine overall), and it could have been worse on Saturday. City SC’s expected goals allowed was 5.7, the highest total in club history by two goals. (The previous high for an opponent was 3.5 by Austin last season.) Portland thought it had tied the game in the 82nd minute, only to have VAR wipe out the goal for offside, but even after tying the game in the 99th minute, Portland came very close to scoring again and winning the whole thing.

“If you don’t win balls that are put into your box,� Hackworth said, “and you don’t jump for headers, you don’t stand guys up, and you don’t get a block, these are all critical moments in a game that are very preventable and should be executed at this level at a much higher level. ... Ball’s flighted in the box. You got to get a header on it. Second balls, we have to battle for those. We were very timid, and I didn’t like that. It didn’t feel good watching it from the side. Tried to make some substitutions to bring some life to it. Unfortunately, that didn’t work either.

“The one thing I like about our locker room right now is everyone is really, really upset. I don’t think there’s one person in there that isn’t feeling the exact same way I am. Roman (Burki) spoke very candidly about the fact that this just is not going to get us to where we want to go. We’re not going to be the team, no matter whether we’re scoring four goals or not. You’ve got to be able to defend your box, and unfortunately, we didn’t do that.�

The tie will obscure another big performance by the team’s new attacking trio of Becher, Cedric Teuchert and Marcel Hartel. Becher scored one goal and set up another by getting fouled. Teuchert had a goal and an assist. Hartel became just the second player in MLS history to have three assists in his first MLS game, two on corner kicks. (The other to have three is Carlos Hermosillo of the Galaxy in 1998.) Goals from Eduard Lowen on a penalty kick and Nokkvi Thorisson in the run of play finished the scoring.

City SC’s problems are not new. When it gave up a goal to Portland three minutes after Lowen’s PK put them up 2-0, it was the third time in the past four games City SC had given up a goal within four minutes of scoring one of its own. When City SC couldn’t hold a second-half lead, it was the eighth time that had happened, at the cost of 18 points. With 18 more points, City SC would be in fourth place in the West, not 13th.

The team has dropped 13 points from games it led going into the 70th minute. It’s the second time it has lost a lead in stoppage time. The team has lost five points in games it has held two-goal leads.

Every time it looked like City SC was out of the woods, the team turned around and went back in. It looked as if City SC had gotten the last break it would need in the 93rd minute when Portland’s Felipe Mora, who scored two goals, got a red card for fouling Chris Durkin and then catching him in the head with his shoe after Durkin fell to the ground. But six minutes later, Hosei Kijima, who came on as a sub in the 69th minute, was called for a foul on Portland star Evander 5 yards from the top of the penalty area on the left side facing the goal. With a four-man City SC wall in front of him, he curved the ball over the wall and into the top left-hand corner of the goal to tie the game

“It’s pretty simple,� Hackworth said. “I don’t even know what to say. I’m anxious to go look at the game film. I do want to give Portland credit. I mean, they’re a really good team. They have some very dynamic attacking players. Evander hits a world-class free kick there. Not sure that was a foul. Doesn’t look like Hosei even touched him. But again, that’s on us. We have to do better in these areas because we can’t expect to go on the road and score four goals and give up four goals. That’s just unacceptable.�

This was the kind of night it was: Burki made a couple of strong saves in the second half to keep City SC ahead, but he also fumbled two balls on Saturday. The first would have turned into a goal if not for a miracle block by Henry Kessler and the second one was scored on and trimmed City SC’s lead to 3-2.

“Roman made some unbelievable saves,� Hackworth said, “so I don’t want to fault him. But you expect Roman to hold the third goal for sure. It was a good shot. It was trailing away from a little bit, so it wasn’t easy, but 10 times out of 10 you expect him to hold that.�

Kessler and Jannes Horn made their debuts for City SC. Kessler started and had a key block of what looked like a sure Portland goal in the first half and Horn came on as a substitute and got a yellow card 20 minutes into his MLS career, which may be some kind of a record.

Klauss and Rasmus Alm did not make the trip, but Hackworth said they are expected to be full participants at practice this week and should be available for selection for the game with the Los Angeles Galaxy.

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