Charlotte FC Scouting Report: Yes, I'm Over-Committing Again

Blasphemy.

This one had to go up early due to outside life obligations. Which, rather incredibly, I still have…

Some Basics
Charlotte FC comes into the weekend loitering at 11th in Major League Soccer’s Eastern Conference (and 20th overall; at 22nd, your Portland Timbers), on 11 points with a solid home record (3-1-1) and a shit road record (0-4-1, fwiw, but that’s not important right now). They’ve won some real ones – e.g., the controversial 2-0 win over Columbus Crew SC in Week 5 (or Week 6, by the Inter Miami CF calendar) and, more recently, a 3-2 win over Toronto FC (hold this thought) – but one number jumps out for me more than the rest: the 10 goals they’ve scored in 2024. Given the sad state of the Timbers’ defense, what’s better than a feeble attacking team? (That’s right, karma. Bring it.)

The Lineup
Over their past six games, first year head coach Dean Smith has toggled between a 4-2-3-1 (for example) and a 4-3-3 (for example...and, shit, I forgot they signed Junior Urso), if with a slight lean toward the former for home games. The personnel moves around, though not wildly. Kristijan Kahlina consistently starts in goal and Andrew Privett in the center of defense. Privett has partnered with either Adilson Malanda or Bill Tuiloma (hi Bill!) for the most part and Ashley Westwood and Djibril Diani anchor the midfield in front of them. Smith fields a fair mash-up of players in front of that foundation, most often with Belgian midfielder Brecht Dejaegere in either midfield or the frontline, (old (35), and notably non-DP) Scottish midfielder Scott Arfield when he’s available, their new, flashy (aka, expensive) Israeli youth international Liel Abada on or around the left wing, and Kerwin Vargas on the right. Finally, expect to see either Enzo Copetti or Patrick Agyemang starting at the “1” in the 4-2-3-1 or in the middle of the three in the 4-3-3.

As of note as all that, Charlotte hasn’t had a “the man” since Karol Swiderski got loaned out at the start of this season(?). Their highest scoring players – Agyemang and Vargas – both have just 2 goals and 1 assist to their names and it’s a lot of ones and zeros from there. I’ll get into this more later, but I’d rather see Copetti in Charlotte’s starting XI than Agyemang. Speaking of…

Some Reviews from the Local (i.e., Charlotte’s) Subreddit
“Just again reminding people that [Copetti] spent most of his career as a winger and right back in lower division [Argentine] football. How he ended up a DP with a transfer fee is beyond me.”
- Dizzy_Dare_2353, front a post shitting on Copetti, far from a rare sentiment, fwiw

Popular as chlamydia in Charlotte.

Fun fact about Copetti (from that same thread), he has more fouls committed (52) than shots on goal over 34 games in MLS – which could speak to why he has scored just six goals over his MLS career. That detail smartly opens the conversation about the loathing many Charlotte fans seem to feel for their one and only General Manager Zoran Krneta. It echoes how much Timbers fans hated Gavin Wilkinson by the end, and without a series of scandals to fuel it.

Enjoy some more general sentiments:

 
“the whole team is mid”
- jonstan123, from a post titled “What’s the Actual Problem”

“Our only problems are the defense, the midfield, and the forwards. That’s it though.”
- MinimumAD5899 (same post)

“We are one dimensional and have ZERO midfield buildup. It’s this… 100% of the time.”

“String a couple passes through the backfield, maybe play it out wide, but only to pass it back, then throw a long ball up top or to switch field… lose possession.”

“There is NEVER a passing buildup through the midfield. It’s embarrassing to watch. I’ve seen high school teams more capable of stringing together an attack.”
- Veinsteiger (same post)

Sure, all that comes from just the two posts above, but I saw some version of “this team lacks talent” and “they barely play soccer” again and again - even in the post-game thread after win over Columbus, where most Charlotte fans 1) agreed they got lucky with Derrick Jones sending off, and 2) laughed and laughed about how publicly bitchy Crew fans got after the result (a result that came in at or near the end of the blissfully-brief scab ref era).

All of that goes back to presumable(?) stars like Arfield and Dejaegere. They’re 35 and 32, respectively, and they’ve combined for a total of four goals and two assists. That’s somewhat excusable in Arfield’s case, what with just 670 minutes played (in 20 games, with a mere five starts), but Dejaegere has very little to show for 14 total starts. Not to go all nativist, but why would a team look for mediocre players abroad when we have a bounty of them right here in the U. S. of A.? So, yeah, I get Charlotte fans’ gripes about the scouting, because that shit seems broke.

Moving on now to direct observation…

The Review
I put about 35 minutes into Charlotte’s home loss against Minnesota United FC, followed it up with 60+ from their narrow, late win over Toronto, and capped the whole thing off with the highlights of last weekend’s loss at New York City FC (where both teams and aesthetics go to die). Those all looked like very different games, but let’s dig in anyway..

First and foremost, because Minnesota (literally) ripped them three new assholes – the only thing smarter than their passing might have been all the first touches that took the ball beyond Charlotte’s (feeble) pressure - so the only lesson I took from that was play the ball quickly and with confidence, something Portland does, if only after the now requisite second-half adjustments. Charlotte generally defended in a reactive 4-2-4 and, in what passed for a press, they sent some rando on a solo mission to chase after the ball it. As such, the only lesson I took from that loss is a sincere hope that this version of Charlotte shows up when Portland does. Robin Lod’s goal, Minnesota’s second, gives a fair impression of what this looked like in action, or its opposite.

Charlotte defended higher and more aggressively against Toronto and it paid off, if with a healthy assist from the visitors. It took Toronto an entire half before they arrived at place where they could pass the ball anywhere on the field without crippling apprehension – and even then they committed acts of self-sabotage that even the Timbers craptacular defense generally avoids. (That said, and as a reminder, this same Toronto team allowed just one goal over the first five games of 2024.)

Basically, Portland should take the same lesson from both games – i.e., pass the ball deliberately, quickly and confidently. Know where you want the next pass to go and get it there. Dammit. In the same vein, using their first touch as well as the Loons did could carry the Timbers halfway to victory. Minnesota rolled Charlotte defenders over and over simply by opening their hips when they received the ball to push it past the pressure. Charlotte over-committed in defense all over and over and over.

I have just one note to take from Charlotte’s loss last weekend and NYCFC: watch how Mounsef Bakrar attacked the center of Charlotte’s backline in transition (for a pair of glimpses). Based on what I’ve seen between that game and the loss versus Minnesota, Charlotte sucks at managing that. And now, some more…

You know what to do...

Talking Points/Loose Theories
1) Goddammit, I Hate to Say This
But, yes, this looks like a literally perfect opportunity to compel Charlotte to (attempt to) carry the game. In their defense and against some of the notes above, they showed they can play on the ground against Toronto, but even there it dried up before it reached the forward line more often than not. And, based on what I saw across all the tape, yes, they do lean deeper into a deeply limited version of the hit-‘n’-hope long-ball than they should. Alternately, the Timbers could (and likely will) face a team content to punt the ball around the back four before heaving a low-percentage long-ball forward - an approach that will let them keep their defensive shape and pressure Portland's back four.

2) Shit, I Forgot to Name Their Fullbacks!
In fairness, this makes sense because, one stray assist I can’t bring to mind aside, I’ve seen their left back, Jere Uronen, get on the wrong side of everything and pretty much victimized like a damn wildebeest more times than I should have in such a limited review. Whether it’s a structural issue (which Timbers fans should forgive, understand, but also exploit) or a lack of speed/talent/understanding, Charlotte’s left side looks soft. So, attack, kill, etc. And yet…

2a) Which Unfortunately Prolongs the Entire Juan David Mosquera Conundrum
It is what it is.

2b) Apart from Nathaniel Byrne drawing the frankly baffling assignment to mark Keaton Parks on NYCFC’s winner (Parks has an entire fucking head on him), Charlotte’s fullbacks don’t strike me as anything but part of a defense that works – and do take this seriously – well enough that the Timbers should focus more on scoring against it than they worry about Charlotte scoring.

2c) Yes, That Means Take Some Possibly Ill-Advised Risks in Transition
C’mon, admit it. You want to see the Timbers actually win a fucking game as much as I do.

3) Why I Can’t Really Describe Their Approach to Goal
I’m not even sure Dean Smith can at this point. If I had to flag the biggest threat in their attack, I’d go with Agyemang’s size, speed and aggressiveness – seriously, I’ve seen the man throw his weight around and it moves things – and Vargas’ intuitive read. For the record, that looks like this and this and, based on everything I’ve seen, that constitutes Charlotte’s best approach to goal. (In their defense, they pulled off something more impressive against Toronto). At the risk of biting you, me and the team on the ass, I’d call both of those elements manageable.

Road games have traditionally been hard for the Timbers, but Charlotte sets up as their best chance for either or both a clean sheet and a win than they’ve seen since…Jesus Christ, the schedule has been a fucking bear, but could it be Colorado Rapids in Week 1? (That’s Miami’s Week 2, btw, bow down to your betters, dammit.)

I’ll circle back after seeing how they did either late Sunday or sometime Monday. If the Timbers don’t win this win, so help me GOD, I’ll keep watching them and forgiving their failings like I always do…the snark just gets heavier when they suck.