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Jeff Carlisle
St. Louis City SC announced the firing of manager Olof Mellberg on Tuesday, following a poor start to the season that saw the team win just two of its first 15 matches.
David Critchley, who had been managing CITY2, the club’s entry in MLS NEXT Pro, will now take over on an interim basis.
Mellberg departs with an overall record of 2-8-5 (W-L-D) after only six months in St. Louis and with the team in 14th place in the 15-team Western Conference.
In addition to the team’s place in the table, Critchley will also aim to revive the team’s moribund attack, which has seen it score just 11 goals in league play, the second-worst mark in MLS behind CF Montreal’s 10.
“The decision to part ways with Olof goes beyond just results. 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,” said St. Louis sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel.
“As a club, we have certain standards we need to meet and believe a coaching change was necessary to improve our overall performance and return to a winning culture. Our fans deserve a better-performing team, and we intend to give them one.”
“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,” added St. Louis City SC president and GM Diego Gigliani.
“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.”
Critchley has been with the club since 2021, initially working in St. Louis’ academy and coaching the organization’s U-16 and U-17 teams. He was named manager of CITY2 last November. He led the team to a 6-4-1 record so far his season.
Baggio Husidic, one of Critchley’s assistants from CITY2, will now work with the first team, while the club’s technical director, John Hackworth, will fill in for Critchley as the CITY2 head coach.
Mellberg joined St. Louis last November after his contract with Swedish side IF Brommapojkarna had expired. Mellberg had previously managed Brommapojkarna from 2015-17, a period when he led the club to successive promotions into Sweden’s top tier. Mellberg also managed Danish side Fremad Amager in 2019 as well as Sweden club Helsingborgs from 2019-20.
As a player, Mellberg enjoyed a distinguished career for both club and country. After making his professional debut with Degerfors IF in 1996, he moved to AIK, winning a league title. Following a three-year spell with Racing Santander, he moved to Aston Villa, where he made over 260 league and cup appearances. He later played for Juventus, Olympiacos, Villarreal and FC Copenhagen.
At the international level, Mellberg made 117 appearances for Sweden, a run that included a spell as the team’s captain, scoring eight goals. Mellberg was part of two World Cup sides in 2006 and 2010, as well as four teams that took part at the European Championships from 2000-12.
