Olof Mellberg becomes 2nd St. Louis City coach fired in 12 months | OneFootball

For a second consecutive season, St. Louis City has parted with its manager before the MLS All-Star Game.

The third-year MLS outfit announced late Tuesday that Ollof Mellberg has been relieved of his duties after only 15 matches on the job, with the club sitting second from bottom in the Western Conference standings after going winless in its last 11 MLS fixtures.

David Critchley, who had been managing the club's MLS Next Pro side, will take the interim managerial reins.

Not much experience

Although Mellberg enjoyed a long and varied playing career as a center back, including stops at Aston Villa, Juventus and Villareal, the former Sweden international was in his first managerial job outside of Scandinavia.

At the time of his dismissal, Mellberg's St. Louis side had only scored 11 goals, the third-lowest total in MLS this season. In the Western Conference standings, it hovers above only the LA Galaxy, who are one match away from tying the all-time MLS winless streak record at 16.

“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. 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,” said City sporting director Lutz Pfannenstiel said in a statement. “Our fans deserve a better-performing team, and we intend to give them one,” continued Pfannenstiel.

Mellberg not alone

The dismissal comes less than a calendar year after St. Louis parted with its first manager Bradley Carnell in his second season on the job.

Carnell guided St. Louis to a Western Conference regular season tile in their expansion season, but a quick first-round playoff exit followed by only 19 points earned in 20 matches the following season led to his eventual pink slip.

Carnell is now managing the Philadelphia Union, who are currently second in the MLS Supporters' Shield standings and atop the Eastern Conference.

Three is a crowd

St. Louis is one of four MLS clubs that won't be playing on Wednesday night's Matchday 16 schedule. They'll resume their season under Saturday at home against Bruce Arena's San Jose Earthquake.

St. Louis becomes the third MLS team to make a coaching chance since the start of the season, though none have hired the next full-time managers yet.

Montreal was first to the benchmark, parting with Laurent Courtois way back in March following an extended winless start. Sporting Kansas City's Peter Vermes, MLS' all-time longest-tenured manager, was fired the following week after SKC's winless run in all competitions reached a club-record 13 matches dating back to the 2024 campaign.