PHOTO | TROY HULL

Charlotte FC defender Christian Makoun is one of four players who’ve been called to duty for their respective national teams in the runup to the World Cup tournament.

Zoran Krneta likes what he sees in Charlotte FC a third into its first MLS season.

Krneta, the team’s sporting director, is responsible for identifying and acquiring talent for Charlotte, which is 5-1-7 with 16 points. Although the season is young, Krneta is encouraged by Charlotte’s play as well as the potential for improvement. In a meeting with reporters, he talked about the team’s development, team initiatives like July’s match against Chelsea FC and potential deals to solidify the roster. Responses are edited for brevity and clarity.

• On whether Charlotte holding seventh place in the Eastern Conference meets expectations:

“I think the table never lies, so we are where we should be in many ways. I think that there are certain moments that I feel we deserved more out of the games. Let’s look at the Atlanta game where we concede a goal in the 97th minute … and even our first game against DC [United] there. I didn’t really feel that the results [had] gone against the run of play completely. The Colorado game, we were, I believe, the better team. To be honest, for us the most important thing at this stage of the season is to stay close to the playoffs, to stay competitive.”

• Initial thoughts on not only lining up the July 20 friendly against English Premier side Chelsea FC and why it’s a big deal:

“We’ve always wanted to bring the best talent [to] Charlotte and the Carolinas. … We thought it will be great for our loyal fans who are coming in great numbers every game to experience seeing Charlotte FC playing one of Europe’s truly great [teams] – twice the European champions, six times champion of the Premier League, one of the best clubs in the last decade.”

• On whether there’ll be another signing during the summer transfer window to fill an open slot on the roster:

“Absolutely. We were looking at. I wouldn’t like to commit whether it’s going to happen in a summer transfer window, which is our aim, or whether it will happen in the January simply because the business of transfers and deal-making is unpredictable. We are looking for the attacking midfield as a as a third [designated player]. That’s our primary aim, but it’s something that we are very careful how we go about. We have targets, we’re talking to targets and if possible, we’ll bring it to the summer.”

• On how he expects Charlotte FC to perform against a Premier League team like Chelsea:

“I said many times I think playing at home, this team as it is now should not fear anybody and we should play against everybody to win. I said this at the beginning of the season, I say this now and I’ll say these are the end of the season, so this team is built to play to win. These players all believe in themselves, and they will try to win every game regardless of who they play.”

• Whether the upper level of Bank of America Stadium will available for the Chelsea game:

“I think closer to full building.”

• On how losing six players to national team play impacts the club:

“It’s something that every club deals with. Chelsea has 10 national team players alone. So it’s something that on one hand, we are proud that we have a team that has six players who play for national teams. On the other hand, I think we have enough depth. The young players are very, very eager to prove who they are and how good they are. So we need to we need to work with that and adapt.”

• Where the MLS Next Pro team is in terms of acquiring talent:

“I think we have defined a high value in our domestic talent so far in our first team. If you look at the players that we have George Marx and Ben Bender and Chris Hegardt, and Adam Armour and Jaylin Lindsey, this is five talented young players who we expect a lot [from] in the future.

“I think MLS Next Pro would be the perfect stage for more American talents to show to the head coach and to all of us if they’re ready and when they’re ready. I’m really excited about this team. We’re planning to probably start announcing the head coach and the people that will be in on the technical side of the team in the summer. We would like to start building the club, some kind of hybrid model in the summer, start playing maybe some friendly games and getting ready for the full launch in January or February next year.”

Comments