National Writer: Charles Boehm<\/span>\n <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Last spring, Marcel Hartel<\/a> reached perhaps his greatest soccer achievement, helping FC St. Pauli secure promotion to the German Bundesliga after more than a decade of toil in the second division.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n A 3-1 win over Osnabr\u00fcck on May 12 clinched a long-sought breakthrough for the passionately-supported Hamburg \u201ccult\u201d club, Hartel scoring the third goal to spark euphoria among the punks, mavericks, leftists and other faithful who proudly embrace their identity as \u2018the rebels of German football,\u2019 en route to his best-ever season.<\/p>\n Having never before scored more than five times in a single campaign, Hartel finished 2023-24 with 17 goals and 13 assists, the most goal contributions in the 2. Bundesliga that year. The hard-running playmaker from Cologne had become a fan favorite at the Millerntor-Stadion and should be integral, it seemed, to St. Pauli\u2019s hopes of surviving in the top flight among giants like Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich.<\/p>\n \u201cI had the most success in my whole career, played my best season there,\u201d Hartel explained in a recent one-on-one conversation with MLSsoccer.com. \u201cI was a leader in the team, I was second captain in the team. I had a very good relationship to everybody in the whole club, and also to the supporters \u2013 I had a big, big relationship to the big supporters who come also to the away games, and am also in contact still with them.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a hard decision.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Yet he, his wife Maike and their young daughter Maliah found themselves at a crossroads in life.<\/p>\n Marcel had played out his St. Pauli contract and was a free agent. The \u2018Kiezkicker\u2019 sought to re-sign him for the Bundesliga voyage ahead, and he also reportedly fielded interest from UEFA Champions League clubs. But none of it quite connected with what he and Maike felt was needed for their next chapter.<\/p>\n \u201cI had a three-year contract, and after two years, if St. Pauli came to me a bit earlier, I think maybe the chance will be bigger that I signed before that,\u201d recalled Hartel. \u201cWe sat on it, we sat together, also with St. Pauli \u2013 we had a good, open conversation, and we were honest to each other. We said, we are too far away from each other.<\/p>\n \u201cI spent the whole of my life, my career, in Germany, different cities in Germany,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd we made this decision together to look forward to see something new, to a new country.\u201d<\/p>\n Hartel\u2019s mind was drawn to the idea of a completely new adventure much further afield. The Columbus Crew<\/a> had made a strong push for his signature<\/a>, but the deal fell apart in its final stages, allowing St. Louis CITY SC<\/a> and their German sporting director, Lutz Pfannenstiel, to step in with what was reportedly a bigger contract offer that made Hartel STL\u2019s third Designated Player.<\/p>\n Now, Hartel wears CITY\u2019s magenta, Maike has connected with the club\u2019s extensive network of German families and Maliah, who turned two a few months ago, is flashing some American flavor as she grows up in the Arch City.<\/p>\n \u201cI had the conversation with Lutz and it was an amazing conversation. I meet the city for a couple of days, and then makes my decision very easy,\u201d explained Marcel. \u201cAnd so far, now I’m here, I think eight or nine months, and I have to say, it was the perfect, perfect decision for me and my family.<\/p>\n \u201cMy daughter fits pretty well here. She started going to preschool, she’s learning English \u2013 she’s also coming home now with some English words, which is unbelievable. And my wife\u2019s feeling well, so it was a very good decision.\u201d<\/p>\n STL will welcome the Crew to Energizer Park for Sunday Night Soccer presented by Continental Tire this weekend (7 pm ET | MLS Season Pass, Apple TV+<\/a>), and it\u2019s tempting to ponder what the respective teams would look like if Hartel\u2019s 2024 had played out a bit differently. Could he have been the difference-maker to enable Columbus to defend their 2023 MLS Cup crown?<\/p>\n Hartel himself doesn\u2019t feel compelled to spend much time on questions like that. St. Louis is home now, and the slick-passing Crew are just another opponent to study \u2013 though he enjoyed coach Wilfried Nancy\u2019s company when the two crossed paths at MLS Media Day in Miami over the winter.<\/p>\n \u201cColumbus, it’s a very good team. I saw a lot of games from them, very good ball possession team,\u201d he said. \u201cI also met the coach, Nancy, on MLS shooting day, he was a very good guy, and yeah, they do a very good job. But I think we face a similar opponent this season against San Diego, they also played similar [to] Columbus, and there we play 0-0 \u2026 Columbus is very good with the ball, but I think we can hurt them.\u201d<\/p>\n The context around that last bit has become the defining question of CITY SC\u2019s season to date.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 St Louis CITY SC (@stlCITYsc) July 2, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n New head coach Olof Mellberg has emphasized defensive stability above all else in his preferred 3-4-2-1 formation, and it\u2019s worked in one sense. Only one MLS team, Austin FC<\/a>, have leaked fewer goals than the four conceded by STL across their first seven matches. But the inverse is also true: Only one team (New England<\/a>) have scored less than the four goals they’ve totaled in that span.<\/p>\n The drawbacks of that cautious approach have been exposed in the three-game losing streak STL are currently riding \u2013 all of them goalless \u2013 after a 2W-0L-2D start, leaving them 11th in the Western Conference table and 21st overall.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we had a lot of focus at first on our defense, defense line to [not] concede that many goals, because in the last season, if you see how many goals, you can see it was way too much,\u201d said Hartel. \u201cBut now we have to start to change, because now we see our defense works, and now we have to go a bit for our offense line, because you can see we only shot four goals.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not creating that much chances, but we will get used to it \u2013 and we train it every day. We also have very open communication here with Olof.\u201d<\/p>\n Hartel looks pivotal to those hopes \u2013 not only in terms of his own productivity but his capacity to inspire those around him. He hit the ground running upon arrival last summer, scoring three goals and five assists as previously woeful STL produced a stretch-run surge that fell short of the Audi MLS Cup Playoffs but fueled optimism for 2025.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s difficult to come from another country at first, to a new league, to a new country, but the club and the team make it very easy for me to feel confident with my quality,\u201d said Hartel. \u201cImmediately, from the first game, I feel the trust from the team, and also from the club and the coaches. So far, also now Olof gives me the trust, he gives me a lot of freedom in my game. For me, it is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u2014 Major League Soccer (@MLS) March 10, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote><\/div>\n His work rate, nose for goal, incisive passing and interpretation of space in the attacking third have been vital for CITY\u2019s best version of themselves, particularly as he quickly struck up an understanding with some familiar faces among his new teammates.<\/p>\n Years ago, Hartel played with Eduard L\u00f6wen<\/a>, Cedric Teuchert<\/a>, Timo Baumgartl<\/a> and Jannes Horn<\/a> on German youth national teams, a history that\u2019s helped them combine on the pitch<\/a>, and their families support one another off it.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n \u201cThese guys know each other since they\u2019re 16, 17 years old,\u201d Pfannenstiel told MLSsoccer.com in September. \u201cIs there a certain chemistry immediately on the field? Sometimes, if you see us playing on one side, and there are these three guys playing in a triangle, you know there is something there.\u201d<\/p>\n Having compatriots experiencing the same sort of North American adventure has been priceless for the Hartels, considering the usual support structure for those with young children \u2013 Maliah\u2019s grandparents and extended family \u2013 is thousands of miles away in Cologne.<\/p>\n \u201cIt’s not like we are in Germany that my parents, or the parents of my wife, say, \u2018Oh, we are coming now. We drive four hours from Cologne to Hamburg\u2019 or somewhere else. Yeah, this is tough, to be honest. It’s a hard time,\u201d said Marcel. \u201cBut I have to say, my wife is doing excellent. I think we are a good team, me and my wife, together with my daughter, and we don’t complain.<\/p>\n \u201cWe know from the beginning that will be a hard time for us alone here. But I mean, especially here in St Louis CITY, we have a lot of players who speak German, who have also kids in the age of my daughter; the wives also speak German. So this makes it very easy for my wife and my daughter to have immediately, two, three persons where she can meet outside from our home.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Marcel’s match winner ????\u200d???? #STLvLA<\/a> x #AllForCITY<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/bKJFmR9NBw<\/a><\/p>\nNew ambitions across the pond<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Breakout offensive performance?<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
STL’s German connection<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
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