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The familiar image of ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC striker Klauss from the 2023 season was him with a wide smile and his arms outstretched as he celebrated a goal. He had 10 goals in a season that was interrupted by an injury that kept him from competing for Major League Soccer’s Golden Boot award.

The most common image of him this season has been different: it’s been him with his hands pressed against his head, looking in wonder at how the shot he just took somehow managed not to go in the goal.

Through the first seven games of the MLS season, plus two games in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, Klauss has just one goal, and that came on a penalty kick, which he took only because Eduard Lowen was injured and not in the game. He has yet to score in the run of play this season.

While that number may be disappointing — he had five goals in his first five games last season on his way to a team-high 10 — the underlying numbers are solid: he’s taken 20 shots, tied for 13th in the league; he has 1.6 expected goals on non-penalty kicks, which is 35th in the league, per Opta Stats. His 1.6 goals below expected on non-penalty kicks is the sixth biggest difference in the league.

Also solid: Klauss’ confidence that the goals will come.

“I mean, it’s not my first time, it’s not the last time,� he said Wednesday. “A striker is always like that. I don’t think I’m playing bad games. So this would be a different situation when you’re just playing bad, you’re not helping the team, you’re not defending, you’re not creating chances. This will be different, of course. But yeah, I think about the chances. I think when I watch them back that I made good decisions in the moment, so yeah, it’s just small details that the ball didn’t go inside or the keeper made the great save. I’m sure that the things will start to go my way soon.�

City SC can use that. Through seven games, the team has one win and five ties, so an extra goal here or there could be the difference between a tie and a win. City SC’s next chance comes Sunday afternoon, when it faces Austin at CityPark.

While City SC coach Bradley Carnell had the team focusing on finishing this week in practice, the route out of a run like this is simple for Klauss. He said he has gotten out of them by doing exactly what he’s doing now: Thinking good thoughts.

“You have to stay positive and always believe that each chance that you miss or the keeper saves, you are closer to scoring the goal in the next one,� he said. “You have to stay positive. I think like, especially in this game (against Dallas) that we didn’t score but we had 27 shots, I can’t imagine if we play 10 more games that we have 27 shots that we will score less than two goals at least. So this happens once in a while.

“I try to always stay positive. I’m feeling much better physically right now. I’m feeling stronger. I’m feeling that I’m getting better game by game. So I’m still confident. Of course, goals always help, especially as a striker, but I try to stay confident and thinking in other ways that I can help the team. I don’t think I’m playing bad games. I’m just not scoring.�

“Oftentimes, you get that one moment and that one moment changes everything,� Carnell said. “Usually when that happens, they become a very dangerous specimen on the field of play when it’s going for them right. So when it’s not, what are you doing? You’re showing extra video, you’re getting extra sessions on the field after training, you’re sending them clips of encouragement, so I think we’ve invested everything. It’s just a matter of time because I’d be more worried if Klauss was not getting chances.�

It’s not just Klauss, Carnell noted. In its past three games, City SC has just one goal from an attacking player in open play (Indiana Vassilev).

“We’re just waiting for that moment for the penny to drop,� Carnell said.

It looked like the penny was going to drop Saturday for Klauss against Dallas but instead it was more frustration. In the 67th minute, he overpowered a Dallas defender on the end line to win a ball in the box, turned, took one touch to position the ball and with his left foot (his first shot with that foot this season) from a tight angle hit the center of the crossbar and the ball bounced away. Seven minutes later, he took a pass from Adeniran and from 12 yards went for the top left corner, only to have goalkeeper Maarten Paes dive and deflect the shot. Paes, who made seven saves in the game, was named goalkeeper on the MLS team of the match day for the weekend.

“I think it’s more mental,� Klauss said, “because if you start to go down, and you start to say, ‘Oh, why are my balls not going in? Why am I not scoring goals?’, then you stopped to help the team in other ways as well. You have to stay positive. You have to see if you’re making bad decisions, or actually, you made good decisions but didn’t score. Especially in this game against Dallas, I think the chance that I had with my left, I made a good decision that the only way to score was over his shoulder. I made the shot, was off the crossbar and then after he made the great save as well so yeah, I think the goal will come soon. I hope.�

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The constantly shifting scene of who’s in, who’s out for ºüÀêÊÓƵ City SC took another turn on Wednesday.

Midfielder Eduard Lowen and defender Joakim Nilsson were back on the field and practicing with the team for the first time since their respective injuries as the team resumed training Wednesday. But absent were defender Josh Yaro and midfielder Njabulo Blom. Yaro will be out at least four weeks, Blom from two to four weeks, both with hamstring injuries.

It’s too soon for coach Bradley Carnell to say if Lowen (hamstring) or Nilsson (rib) would be available on Sunday when City SC faces Austin at CityPark, but their presence at practice is an encouraging step. Both had been working out separately from the team as they got back into game shape. Lowen has missed four games — he didn’t train last week as Carnell said he dealt with a personal matter, but Carnell had said earlier Lowen likely wouldn’t have been ready anyway — and Nilsson three. Both wore yellow jerseys as “neutrals� in practice.

“Get a touch, get a feel,� Carnell said. “We can start progressing them from here. So yeah, the outlook is good on those two.�

Not so good for Yaro and Blom. Yaro left Saturday’s 0-0 tie with Dallas in the 63rd minute, replaced by Kyle Hiebert after overextending his leg. Yaro missed four games earlier this season with a hamstring injury but had come back and played 90 minutes in the three games prior to the Dallas game.

Blom had missed three games earlier in the season with a knee injury. He has played a full 90 minutes in only one of the three games since returning to the lineup but said last week he felt 100%. Against Dallas, he came on as a sub in the 73rd minute.

“They both picked up problems from the last game,� Carnell said. “Unfortunately, Josh just aggravated the same muscle that he had previously. So it’s the same muscle group, same muscle side. So unfortunately, he’s out a little bit longer.�

City SC has had all four of its center backs healthy for just one game this season, the season-opening Champions Cup game with Houston. But the group has been proficient in taking turns: Yaro missed three games but came back just as Tim Parker went out with a tight back. Parker missed two games but came back just as Nilsson went out with a cracked rib. Now Nilsson may be available again just as Yaro goes out.

“Every season, every year has its ups and downs and challenges,� Carnell said, “so we try to find ways to mitigate that as well. On the grand scheme of things, it feels or sounds like a lot, but we’re still having a good turnout in terms of training availability from everybody. There’s just a couple of names that keep popping up.�

In the first nine games of this season (including Champions Cup), City SC has lost 21 man-games to injury. Last season, City SC lost 22 man-games in its first nine games, though 17 of those belonged to Nilsson or Jon Bell, who had been out from the start of the season as they rehabbed from surgeries.

Changes coming to MLS?

MLS will soon make changes in its salary setup, The Athletic reported Wednesday, as the league tries to maximize the value of having Lionel Messi in the U.S. The changes were approved by the league’s board of governors Tuesday, the report said, citing sources, but still need approval from the MLS Players Association, which has no reason not to approve them, considering the end result is more money being spent on players. The rules would take effect this season.

Teams presently can have three designated players, players who teams can pay over the league maximum salary without having that count against the salary cap. The league also a similar program, called the U-22 initiative, for players younger than 22; teams with three designated players can have one U-22 initiative player, and teams with two designated players can have three.

Under the proposed changes, teams with three DPs can have three U-22s, and teams with two DPs can have four U-22s, plus $2 million in general allocation money.

City SC has two designated players (Klauss and Lowen) and one U-22 initiative player (Chris Durkin).

Schulte makes history

Patrick Schulte, the goalkeeper from St. Charles who played at ºüÀêÊÓƵ University and is now with the Columbus Crew, made two saves in a shootout as the Crew beat Mexican club Tigres and advanced to the semifinals of the CONCACAF Champions Cup on Tuesday. Columbus is the first MLS team to advance against a Liga MX team after failing to win the first game at home.

“We gave confidence to Pat,� Columbus coach Wilfried Nancy said, “and life is good. I believe that when you challenge yourself and when you do good stuff, you’re going to get the rewards, and he got it. That’s why Pat saved us.�

Schulte stopped the first two penalty kicks he faced, guessing correctly and blocking shots by Andre-Pierre Gignac and Guido Pizzaro and allowing Columbus to go ahead 2-0 in the best-of-five shootout.

“I don’t think really anything is going through my mind other than trying to give the team the best chance of winning,� said Schulte, a Francis Howell High graduate. “They’re big players and guys who have been successful throughout their careers, but I just want to give our team the best chance of winning. I was fortunate to be able to do that.�

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