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| Blasphemy. |
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
