Under new leadership, St. Louis City focus on Charlotte FC

Field Level Media|published: Fri 20th February, 01:57 2026

Columbus Crew assistant coach Yoann Damet, left, and head coach Wilfried Nancy watch during the second half of the Concacaf Champions Cup quarterfinal against Tigres UANL at Lower.com Field. The game ended in a 1-1 tie.

Yoann Damet will make his debut as a permanent manager on Saturday when he leads St. Louis City against visiting Charlotte FC in both teams' season opener.

The 35-year-old Frenchman was previously twice an interim manager at FC Cincinnati, promoted from his role as assistant both times at a club that struggled in its first three MLS seasons.

In St. Louis, he is the third permanent manager for a team that topped the MLS' Western Conference in the 2023 regular season as an expansion team, only to miss the postseason in 2024 and 2025.

So far, he says the task of trying to turn that recent record around hasn't left much time for reflection on achieving a career goal.

"This week has been very busy, on and off the pitch," Damet said, "so right now I'm not focusing too much on how I'm feeling. I'm focusing on how I want people around me to feel, whether it's the staff or it's the players, and also the amount of information we want to deliver."

St. Louis improved late last season under interim boss David Critchley, winning three times and drawing once its last five. The club traded 2025 leading scorer Joao Klauss (10 goals) to the Los Angeles Galaxy this preseason, but influential midfielder Marcel Hartel (nine goals, six assists) returns.

Charlotte FC improved incrementally in each of their first two seasons under manager Dean Smith.

And this offseason, they added an intriguing midfield piece in U.S. World Cup hopeful Luca de la Torre, who signed a permanent transfer from Spain's Celta Vigo after spending 2025 on loan with San Diego FC.

However, Smith's charges exited in the first round of the MLS Cup playoffs in both seasons, in part because they struggled in games where they held the majority of possession.

The arrival of de la Torre is one sign of intent to try and solve that problem.

"I want us to be better with the ball. I want us to control games with and without the ball," Smith said. "I think over the last two seasons, we've controlled it without the ball really well. We've just been a bit wasteful at times in possession."

--Field Level Media

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