Bürki and Klauss on St. Louis City SC and MLS Next Pro: "It is like a preseason"

From the Yellow Wall to tiny Swangard Stadium with 5,000 seats in Burnaby, BC. The home of Whitecaps 2, the MLS Next Pro team of the Vancouver Whitecaps, could not be further removed from the SIGNAL IDUNA Park in Dortmund. Yet it is where Roman Bürki finds himself on a hot, sunny August afternoon as St. Louis City SC 2 beat Whitecaps 2 4-1 (to the match report). 

The long-time no.1 Dortmund goalkeeper joined St. Louis City SC this summer on a free transfer. St. Louis will join Major League Soccer ahead of the 2023 season but has already fielded a team in MLS Next Pro, a development league like the farm leagues in other North American pro sports. 

For St. Louis head coach Bradley Carnell and sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel, the league has been a welcome pathway to put together a team that can be competitive in MLS immediately. Part of that pathway means new signings Bürki, João Klauss, Tomas Ostrak, Eduard Löwen, Joakim Nilsson, Selmir Pidro, and Isak Jensen are now playing in MLS Next Pro.

Klauss, Ostrak, and Bürki made the trip to the Canadian West Coast to play for St. Louis CITY SC 2 against the Whitecaps 2 at Swangard. “The atmosphere is a bit more like Switzerland,” Bürki said with a big smile on his face when asked by Transfermarkt about the atmosphere in the stadium. 

Roman Bürki: MLS Next Pro an important part of the process

A tiny multi-purpose stadium on the outskirts of Vancouver, Swangard was the long-time home for the Whitecaps before the club moved to more modern BC Place in downtown Vancouver after the 2010 Olympics. Swangard is mainly used for amateur soccer and smaller sporting events. Although it is beautifully located in ample green space, the stadium is a far cry from some of the facilities St. Louis’ European stars had previously experienced. 

For Bürki, it was a game with both ups and downs. In the first half, the Swiss keeper made a couple of mistakes and was at fault for Vancouver’s only goal. In the second half, he came into his own and dominated his area, playing far from his goal and helping instigate several attacks. 

It was a taste of what St. Louis CITY SC will get from their goalkeeper next season. The games also allow Bürki to gel with his future teammates before the club’s inaugural MLS season. Previous expansion teams did not have the ability to work within an MLS-made reality to prepare their club for the first season. Most expansion sides used the USL or the now defunct NASL as a platform to launch their first team in MLS. 

The MLS Next Pro, however, allows St. Louis City to get their new signings used to what it is like being in North America, in particular, the travel, which involves several time zones and different climates, from the mountainous west coast down all the way to the desert in places like Texas. “It is an important process for us to be ready for MLS next season,” Bürki said. 

For Carnell, who tries to be with the team about 60% of the time, having the team coming together now is an integral part of building his squad for the coming season. The future head coach took some time to chat to Transfermarkt ahead of the game and, among others, pointed out the importance of developing a cohesive playing style even before the club gets going next season. 

That playing style already becomes apparent when one watches St. Louis City SC 2 today. In the attack, Klauss will be very much the target man, playing just in front of a dynamic playmaker like Ostrak. 

João Klauss: "MLS is going to be a good league for me"

“MLS is going to be a good league for me,” Klauss said. The Brazilian striker was signed from Hoffenheim and played successfully on loan in Finland, Austria, and Belgium.  “Because it is very physical, and you are forced into many duels, which is very good for me. Also, the way the team wants to play, I have played like that before. I know the system, and it makes me very excited.” 

When Klauss and Ostrak came on in the second half, one would get a glimpse of the future. This forebodes what the St. Louis CITY SC system will look like next season. Essentially, Klauss will operate like a classic target man, who can be picked out on the rush by Bürki or one of the defenders with a long ball. Klauss will then hold up the ball and allow fast players like Ostrak or Jensen—he has been described as a Danish Angel Di Maria to TM— to join the rush and overwhelm the opponent. 

Ostrak will be an important member of this team. The Czech U21 national team playmaker could have also stayed in Germany but opted for MLS to make the next step in his development. The 22-year-old came on in the second half on Sunday and scored just moments later from a Klauss assist. 

“This is the position I like,” Klauss said when asked about the tactical setup. “I like to play as a target man, a real no.9. Sometimes, I like to drift to the wing to make a pass or create room. But it is in the middle where I am the most comfortable.” 

Klauss and Bürki were the big names on the pitch at Swangard on Sunday. But several other players stood out. Max Schneider, for example. The 22-year-old was signed from Marshall University and is a Bayer Leverkusen product. Schneider lacks a bit of pace, which is why he probably failed to break into Leverkusen’s first team. Scouts believe that the midfielder could develop similar to fellow German Julian Gressel. After a successful college career, he became an MLS star and now plays for the Whitecaps. 

Keeping Schneider will be tricky, of course. The German will have to obtain a Green Card not to take up a foreigner spot or be convinced to stay one more season in MLS Next Pro. Either way, the club is hopeful of keeping Schneider long-term. 

Another unusual player who stood out was Kyle Hiebert. The Canadian center-back was signed from Missouri State University and has a Green Card, and there is a good chance the 25-year-old could be cracking the MLS roster next season. 

There are other notable names in that MLS Next Pro squad that could feature next season. Those players, plus the seven foreigners already signed—sources have suggested two more are on the way—plus Jared Stroud, who is set to join from Austin FC in the winter, indicates that a big part of next season’s MLS team is already in place. 

“This is like preseason,” Bürki said when asked about the importance of developing the team now. “I try to do my best and help the younger players develop. It is a lot of fun.” It is a sentiment that Klauss echoes. “It is all part of the process,” Klauss said. “It is a new club. So, they made the decision for us to play these games, and they are important for the young players that we have; we are here to help them.”