Yoann Damet will start as the permanent manager on Saturday when he leads St. Louis City against Charlotte FC in the season opener for both teams.
The 35-year-old Frenchman has served as an interim manager twice at FC Cincinnati, moving up from assistant during a tough start for the club in its first three MLS seasons.
In St. Louis, he becomes the team’s third permanent manager. The team finished first in the MLS’ Western Conference in 2023 as a new franchise but failed to qualify for the playoffs in 2024 and 2025.
So far, he mentions the challenge of changing this recent trend has kept him focused more on the team than on personal achievements.
“This week has been very busy, on and off the pitch,” Damet said. “I’m not concentrating too much on how I feel right now. I’m focused on how I want the staff and players to feel, along with the information we want to share.”
St. Louis saw some improvement towards the end of last season under interim manager David Critchley, winning three games and drawing one in the last five matches. The team traded top scorer Joao Klauss (10 goals) to the Los Angeles Galaxy this offseason, but midfielder Marcel Hartel (nine goals, six assists) remains with the team.
In their first two seasons, Charlotte FC made small improvements under manager Dean Smith.
This offseason, they brought in U.S. World Cup hopeful Luca de la Torre, who signed from Spain’s Celta Vigo after a loan spell with San Diego FC in 2025.
However, Smith’s team faced early exits in the MLS Cup playoffs in both seasons, partly due to issues in matches where they dominated possession.
The addition of de la Torre reflects their aim to address this problem.
“I want us to be better with the ball. I want to control games with and without it,” Smith said. “In the last two seasons, we’ve managed well without the ball but have been wasteful at times when we have it.”