City SC interim coach David Critchley shouts instruction to his players during a game against the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, May 31, 2025, at Energizer Park.
Spirits have been higher around ӣƵ City SC leading up to the team’s game with Portland on Sunday night, and whether that’s because of David Critchley replacing Olof Mellberg as coach or because the team finally snapped its 11-game winless streak — two data points that aren’t entirely unconnected — doesn’t really matter.
“Of course, everybody’s in a better mood,” said midfielder Celio Pompeu. “Because when you win, everything is good. It’s tough when you’re losing and we have to keep working, keep trying to give our best in practice, to give the best to compete, to get your spot. So yeah, with the win, everything is better. Everything is easy, and I hope next week we have the same.”
Even with only one win, bringing its total for the season to a whopping three, City SC’s position looks improved. While still in 14th place in the Western Conference, City SC is one point out of 13th, two out of 12th, and if it wins Sunday, could hit the halfway point of the season just three points below the playoff line.
But the math is still a bit daunting. The last playoff team in the Western Conference last season had 47 points. City SC is at 14 right now, meaning it needs 11 wins in its final 18 games to get to 47.
The completion of the Portland game will mark the halfway point of the season, but it feels more like a new start with Critchley about to coach his second game. For Critchley, it’s important to remember where the team is, that its slow start under Mellberg has put the team in a substantial hole and its catchup time has a definite limit.
“This is a reset,” Critchley said. “But I think the objective of this club is clear, to try and compete for a playoff spot. Obviously, we’re in a tough situation now. We’re looking at an uphill battle, but it’s mathematically possible. So, while it’s mathematically possible, we still need to believe that we can do it, and these guys are doing that. But for us, we have to understand where we’re at in the season as well, just more with teams being fatigued and tired, and getting to know each other’s styles, but we’ve changed a lot about what we do. So, I’m answering both kinds of a line. For us, it’s a reset because we’ve changed a lot, but at the same time we have to respect where we are in the season, and what we need to try and accomplish to compete for the playoff spot.”
As transitions go, this one is simpler than most: most of the team was around at some point when a high-press defense was the norm and a four-man backline was the formation of choice. It may be new to the 2025 City SC team, but it’s not new to the players.
“I think everybody knows their role in it and what they are supposed to do,” said right back Tomas Totland, who returned to the field last week after missing 2½ months that coincided exactly with the team’s winless streak. “For me, I got injured when we played five (in the back), and I came back when we played four, so it was good to get those 35 minutes in and get some minutes underneath my body.”
“I love this formation they give us,” Pompeu said. “But it doesn’t mean I don’t have to defend. We are still very aggressive. But the thing is I think it’s better, because we value the ball more. We still want to have our identity to press the other teams and be aggressive. But now I think we value the ball more. We are more patient in our build-up. So, this is very good for me. And individually, I love to play wide in the wing, to attack, to be offensive, to create chances for a team. But I am also gonna do dirty work. If you need me to, if I need to go back and defend, I’m gonna do it.”
Critchley said the analytics off the San Jose game were very encouraging. He said that high-speed running and total ground covered by players both “shot through the roof from previous weeks.” And PPDA, passes per defensive action, a measure how quickly the defense challenged the opposing team, was fourth best in the league. (A lower number there means the opposing team was confronted more quickly by City SC’s defense.) Next up is improving field tilt, a measure of how much time a team spends in the opposing team’s final third of the field.
“PPDA was something I was really, really happy with,” Critchley said. “It dropped significantly for us, which is great. One thing we talk about is field tilt. So possession is one thing, but where we have the ball on the field is going to be massively important. So field tilt was around 45 percent, I’d like that to be around 55, so that will be a big emphasis of ours against Portland. How do we have more of the ball, but more importantly, how do we have more of the ball higher up in their half of the field?”
Critchley will get a taste this weekend of what life was like for Mellberg, with three of the team’s top players out with injuries, most notably midfielder Eduard Lowen. Lowen was bothered by a sore hamstring last week but was so eager to get back on the field he played through the pain, which was good for City SC as he had a goal and an assist. This week it caught up with him and he’s out. Also out are forward Cedric Teuchert and midfielder Chris Durkin, as well as midfielder Conrad Wallem has to sit out the game after getting a red card against San Jose. That’s four starters out from the 2-1 win over San Jose. City2 players Brendan McSorley and Jaziel Orozco were in training on Friday in case they’re needed.
