Charlotte FC: June Review / July Preview
A strong month is just what Charlotte needed ahead of a tough road trip and Leagues Cup!
It’s been back-to-back strong months for Charlotte FC ending with a disappointing loss on the road. Despite the bad taste those losses have left, this team has momentum! They’ve been methodically working their way up the table anchored by their strong defense and the attack is finally starting to come together. This is a welcomed change as The Crown will have their work cut out for them in the games leading into Leagues Cup. Let’s get into it!
Monthly Summary (results, table, stats)
Results:
3-2 win vs. Atlanta, goals - Williams (OG), Abada (2)
1-0 win vs. DC United, goal - Vargas
2-2 draw vs. Orlando City, goals - Vargas, Bronico
2-0 win vs. Philadelphia Union, goals - Agyemang (2)
0-1 loss vs. Houston Dynamo
Player Stats:
Goals: Agyemang - 5, Vargas - 4, Abada - 3
Assists: Uronen - 3, Vargas & Agyeman - 2
FotMob Rating: top 5 players - Westwood (7.3), Vargas (7.1), Uronen (7.1), Kahlina (7.1), Malanda (7.0)
Team Stats:
Expected goals (xG) = 25.3 (24th in MLS)
Goals per match = 1.1 (27th in MLS)
Goals conceded per match = 1.0 (1st in MLS)
Clean sheets = 9 (1st in MLS)
Average possession = 44.4% (27th in MLS)
Takeaways
Charlotte FC is in the best form in its history
Since the beginning of May, Charlotte FC has earned 21 points from 11 games. Fans have seen good runs before but those have never been sustained and consistent like this. During this run, the team has had 7 clean sheets and a +5 goal differential. The identity has been established and the players have all bought in!
The league is starting to take note and give the club the respect they are earning. After the win against Philadelphia, MLS Wrap-Up did a feature on the club’s progress and Taylor Twellman featured the team in his weekly takes. This is a welcome change for fans of The Crown after most discussions about Charlotte thus far have focused on late goals allowed and dysfunction.
The team is not a finished product (as I’ll discuss in a bit) but there is a resilience and belief from the players and consistency in their performances that can continue taking this team up the table!
In a league with few opportunities for road support, Charlotte FC shines
It seems like months ago now, but for the game against Atlanta United, over 2,000 Charlotte FC fans made the trek down I-85 to support the club. This has become a common sight for these Atlanta matchups and each time you can audibly hear the Charlotte supporters through the broadcast.
Unlike many other leagues around the globe, it is very rare to see large groups of traveling fans in MLS given the large distances between cities. The Atlanta away days for Charlotte are an outlier and something the club has helped build over the years. It’s not just the Atlanta games - it isn’t shocking to see a hundred Charlotte supporters at other away games.
I asked Dean Smith and Ashley Westwood about what that away support means to them after the Atlanta victory:
Brandt Bronico has never been better
His heart, hustle, and drive have never been in question, but for the last two seasons, the technical ability and final product had been missing for Brandt Bronico. I’ll be the first to admit I have been critical of his play before and didn’t think he had a place in the current starting XI. After starting the season injured and returning to a crowded midfield, he needed to make the most of his chances and in June, he was excellent! After the Houston game, I asked Brandt if he and the team still felt momentum going into July and he agreed with me that he was playing some of the best soccer of his career.
Earlier in June, Dean Smith gave Brandt high praise explaining, “his running stats are incredible… out of all the players I’ve ever worked with, he’s the best runner I think I’ve worked with.” That work rate combined with the production he added in attack has taken his game to another level. In June, Brandt started 4 out of 5 games, had an amazing assist to Abada in Atlanta, and scored a go-ahead goal against Orlando.
I still don’t know exactly where Brandt fits into the starting XI once a few DPs are brought in - but his play will make Dean Smith’s decision to put him on the bench harder than it would’ve been before June. If he can keep up this play, he will be a critical part of Charlotte’s success… whether it’s in the starting lineup or coming off the bench remains to be seen.
The attack is starting to heat up and take shape
“Where are the goals??”…the question all fans and pundits had been asking coming into the month. For the first time this season, the team has responded! The front three have stepped up and provided the attacking spark that was desperately needed. Before June, The Crown was averaging less than a goal per game… last month they scored 8 goals in 5 games!
Against Atlanta, Liel Abada had his first breakout game for Charlotte and bagged a brace. Kerwin Vargas scored in back-to-back games including an incredible header off a corner. Patrick Agyemang ended his goal drought with a brace at Philadelphia to lead The Crown to a big win!
Everything improved in June - progressive passing from the backline and midfield, service into the box from the wings, set pieces, and combination play around the box. The team has talked at length about the desire to bring in reinforcements in the attack and many thought Charlotte would continue their offensive struggles until they arrived. Perhaps this was a motivation to the current starters.
DP help in the attack is still needed to take this team to the next level
Despite the increased production, this team needs more danger and creativity to get to the top half of the East and stay there. It’s not that Kerwin, Patrick, Liel, and whoever occupies the 10 don’t have starting quality. This team needs depth and options down the stretch. Between injuries, an Olympic call-up in the case of Abada, and fatigue, the team isn’t set up to make the kind of run they want.
There are two DP spots open for Charlotte and all the buzz points to bringing in a striker and either a creative midfielder or another winger. What was previously considered impossible by many, looks more like reality as the club’s first DP, Karol Swiderski, is scheduled to be back with the team later this month. Manager Dean Smith said:
“He's in our plans because he becomes our player again… he went out on loan, they decided not to take him and we'll happily welcome him back…listen, he decided he wanted to go and pursue Europe and we were happy for him to go and do that… It's not happened at the moment for him to join anyone, so he's coming back. And as I say, we want good players at the club, I believe he's a good player. As long as he comes back, his attitude and application are top like it was before he left, then not a problem."
Dean also mentioned he thinks Karol can fill multiple spots on the field (striker, midfielder, and on the outside). This would give the team great flexibility as they pursue another DP. If they can get a 9 they like, Karol can slot in at the 10. If they find that creative midfielder, Karol and Pat can compete for the striker position or have a strike partnership. Without any inside information, I do think Charlotte FC would be willing to sell Karol for the right price if another team comes knocking.
Getting fresh attackers in the building during this window will be essential for Charlotte to build on the progress from June. It is going to be a very interesting summer! As a reminder, the summer transfer window opens on July 18th and closes on August 14th.
Despite no players on the roster, Charlotte has MLS All-Stars
Brian Maurer with TopBin90 put out a great post on deserving Charlotte FC players getting snubbed. I don’t have much to add to what he said - for the most part, the MLS All-Star game is a popularity contest with the fan and commissioner spots. For the manager selections, it’s hard to expect someone as busy as Wilfried Nancy to watch and know about the best players across the league.
It’s okay for Charlotte fans to feel hard done by not having a player on the roster. Kristijan Kahlina is leading the league in clean sheets and has two of the best-performing center-backs in the league (Malanda and Privett) in front of him. At least one of those three earned a spot with the best 30 players across the league in my semi-professional opinion.
This team does not need a glorified popularity contest to know that the players are performing at a high level. The team should use this as motivation and one positive is that there will be no injury risk for The Crown when the MLS All-Stars face off against Liga MX All-Stars later this month. They can use that time to rest up and prepare for Leagues Cup.
July Preview
Similar to the long road trip at the beginning of the season, The Crown faces another difficult stretch of games heading into Leagues Cup (which we will provide a separate preview piece for). After opening the month against first-place Inter Miami, Charlotte have to travel to face two of the other best teams in the East before heading down to Texas for a game that is sure to have a tough atmosphere. They set themselves up in June with some margin for error in July… but that margin isn’t huge!
Inter Miami (home) 7/3 - Messi and Suarez won’t be joining the Herons for this game, but the attack is far from toothless without them. With Leo Campana in the middle with Robert Taylor and Jordi Alba causing havoc on the left could prove difficult for Charlotte FC. Keeping a clean sheet against Miami will be tough, but they also have a very average defense (giving up 30 goals already). It could be a high-scoring affair at The Bank and Charlotte will want a result before hitting the road.
FC Cincinnati (away) 7/13 - The Crown haven’t had much luck in their previous trips to TQL stadium. They have lost twice by a combined score of 5-0. Cincinnati’s home atmosphere paired with one of the league’s best teams over the last two seasons will make this a difficult game. In the previous matchup earlier this year, Charlotte held reigning MVP, Lucho Acosta, to a very quiet game. They will need to repeat that to get points from this one.
Columbus Crew (away) 7/17 - The team will face the other MLS team from Ohio just a few days later - the defending MLS Cup champions and Concacaf Champions Cup finalists, Columbus Crew. The Columbus attack (led by Cucho Hernández and Diego Rossi) is firing on all cylinders with 9 goals in their last two games in June. Charlotte won a very fluky contest against them earlier this year and probably can’t bank on The Crew getting an early red in this one. Perhaps Wilfried Nancy leaving Charlotte FC off his all-star team will fire up the squad!
Austin FC (away) 7/20 - Austin has had attacking woes of their own this year (tied with Charlotte FC towards the bottom of the league) and is sitting a spot below the playoff line heading into July. Charlotte is better than Austin but the Verde and Black are not easy to beat at their place (have only lost 2 games so far). If the road trip to Ohio isn’t fruitful for The Crown, this will be a crucial game heading into Leagues Cup.
Charlotte FC currently sits 8 points above the final playoff spot in the East. The July road trip is going to be tough, but if Charlotte can come away with a few results and stay in the top 7 in the table, it will be another step forward for the club. Reinforcements should arrive later this month and then the final stretch begins. It should be a fun month of games!
Be on the lookout for a Leagues Cup preview for Charlotte FC later this month!