The tenure of St. Louis City head coach Olof Mellberg has come to an end after 15 matches.
The club announced his dismissal Tuesday night. He has been replaced by David Critchley, the head coach of MLS NEXT Pro affiliate St Louis City2, on an interim basis.
St. Louis City is 2-8-5 (11 points) and in 14th place in the Western Conference. The club has just 11 goals on the season — third worst in Major League Soccer — and has given up 20.
“The decision to part ways with Olof goes beyond just results,” sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said. “We’ve analyzed the team’s performance across a number of factors, including the need to execute against a style of play that led to the team’s initial success and has been part of our DNA for four years.”
This is the third MLS season for expansion side St. Louis. The club led the Western Conference with 56 points in its inaugural season and missed the playoffs in 2024.
Mellberg, the former Sweden captain and Aston Villa star, replaced Bradley Carnell to become the second head coach in franchise history. Carnell was fired in July.
Mellberg, 47, was hired last November, and this is what team president and general manager Diego Gigliani said at the time:
“After careful consideration, we’re thrilled to welcome Olof as our new head coach and are confident he’ll be a great fit for St. Louis City SC.”
But it apparently wasn’t a good fit with Mellberg, who had been coaching clubs in Sweden and Denmark since 2015 before moving to St. Louis.
“We understood it would take time for Olof to become acclimated to Major League Soccer and certainly acknowledge injuries made his job difficult, but we simply could not continue down this path,” Gigliani said.
“We are disappointed that we were not able to find success under Olof. He moved over here from Sweden and worked tirelessly on behalf of the club during his tenure. We wish him nothing but success in his future endeavors.”
St. Louis next plays Saturday at home against the San Jose Earthquakes.
–Field Level Media
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