Home again, Charlotte FC looks to improve its record

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

After picking up a single point in three straight road matches, Charlotte FC returns to Bank of America Stadium to take on Columbus Crew Saturday.

Charlotte FC coach Dean Smith celebrated his 53rd birthday last Tuesday and noted receiving a few gifts – “a few bottles of stuff, and BB (Brandt Bronico) gave me four cans of beer with a picture of him on them” – but there could be no finer, more desired present than a win against Columbus on Saturday.

The long road test is over, at least for a while, but that brings no respite for the Crown as the two best teams in MLS are coming to town on consecutive weekends. First will be the 2023 MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew followed by FC Cincinnati.

After an opening day win at home, Charlotte have only been able to muster one point from a three-game tour of Canada and Nashville. It’s a long season and while the club has proven it can rebound from slow starts in its first two campaigns, playoff aspirations and desire to prove itself as a legitimate contender will benefit immensely from success against the Ohio clubs.

Midfielder Scott Arfield said it will take courage, boldness and aggression in taking the shots when available, adding Charlotte dominated in the second half in Tennessee but got few clear chances.

Arfield, who got his first start of the season in Nashville, had two starts in 13 matches with two goals last season.  

“Everybody wants to play as much football as possible,” he said. “I’m no different. There’s more understanding about the position you’re in as you get older but certainly, the enthusiasm and the love for starting games is never going to diminish.”

As for Columbus, who are atop the Eastern Conference standings with Inter Miami at 10 points (3-0-1, 7 goals for, 2 against), Smith said: “They look well oiled. They've been to together for a while, they've been successful. They've got a playing identity in terms of how they want to play.”

The Crew won their last MLS outing 3-0 over New York Red Bulls at home after a 1-1 draw with Houston, also at home, in the Concacaf Champions Cup. Their 1-1 draw was in the opening match, at Minnesota.
Smith says the threats from the Crew are plentiful.

“They are all over the pitch,” he said. “They like to build up. They like to soak you in and play balls behind you. They create all kinds of goals, so they are a real goal threat. They like to dominate the ball. So our job is to is to fight, to fight them to get hold of the ball ourselves.”

Even in defeat against Toronto and Nashville, Smith felt good about Charlotte’s overall performance, save for a few lapses. He will look for a better aerial defense from the back line which had been very strong until allowing two headed goals by Nashville in the first half.

“I didn't think there was loads wrong,” Smith said. “I mean, we'd give away too sloppy goals. They had three free headers in our box, which has really been a strong point of our team so far this season defensively, defending the box, defending crosses. I just thought we got caught out a couple of times from crosses. So, you know, we want to put a fix to that.”

The Diani difference

Asked about the difference with having French midfielder Djibril Diani make his debut against Nashville in place of Junior Urso, Smith declared “they're both good players in their own right,” before defining, “I think you get the balance of having the left footer first and foremost, but I think as you saw last week, Jubril is more of a ball carrier. He can carry the ball over distance, he's a good passer. I think his passing was up there with the best of completion and they weren't easy passes as well. He was trying to connect which just shows you how good he is. Junior probably gives you a little bit more in both boxes. There's different complements to both players.”

Arfield added: “He’s got a fantastic engine and a wonderful left foot. Rarely flustered, very composed on the ball. He’s only going to get stronger for us.”

World travelers

Both teams will be missing players. Two from the CLTFC roster are away on international duty for UEFA Euro qualifiers this week and won’t be available for the match against Columbus. Jere Uronen was an unused substitute for Finland in a 3-1 loss to Wales. Another MLS player, DC United’s left back Matti Peltola.

Liel Abada, who has yet to play for Charlotte, came on the 71st minute for Israel, who lost 4-1 to Iceland in a Euro match played in Budapest, Hungary.

Injury will keep Enzo Copetti out for at least one match, according to Smith, who added Kerwin Vargas is still questionable after his ankle got rolled by a tackle in Nashville. He did say that Vargas trained on Thursday and was in better shape than he expected given the injury.

Bronico, who has yet to make a game day roster since injury in the preseason, is on the verge of returning to contention but will have to get minutes in somewhere to determine how close he is to match fitness. That could come as a sub or with Crown Legacy, who play Columbus II MLS Next Pro on Sunday in Matthews.

Missing for the Crew will be first choice goalkeeper Patrick Schulte and starting midfielder Aidan Morris, who have been selected to United States Under-23 side’s 22-player roster for training camp in Spain and France as the USA continues preparations for the Summer Olympics in Paris.

Forward Jacen Russell-Rowe – who has scored a pair of goals in four MLS games this season - has been selected to Canada’s roster for a Concacaf Nations League play-in match that will serve as a qualifier to the 2024 Copa América this summer.

Charlotte US Open Cup results half empty

Crown Legacy and Charlotte Independence both had first round matches in the Lamara Hunt U.S. Open Cup on Thursday with mixed results. The Jacks won on the road 2-0 over amateur side Vereinigung Erzgebirge, a Warminster, Pennsylvania club founded in 1931 by German immigrants, while the Legacy lost 1-0 at home against NPSL side South Carolina United Heat.

Omar Ciss and Kharlton Belmar scored for the Independence in the 72nd and 86th minutes to move Charlotte into the second round. The USL One finalists last season advanced to the third round of the 2023 Open Cup where they fell to the Charleston Battery, a USL Championship division.

Crown Legacy fell to visiting South Carolina United Heat of the amateur UPSL on a penalty kick in the last of five minutes stoppage time. In an evenly played match, Legacy could only put 2 of 12 shots on target and failed to take the lead in the 85th minute when Filip Mirkovic sent a penalty kick earned by Chandler Young high over the crossbar.

The Legacy were in the Cup in lieu of the parent club Charlotte FC. With MLS leadership deciding to pull most of the league’s clubs out of America’s oldest soccer competition – 109 years – the first team wouldn’t be competing and missing out on the chance to win a berth in the 2025 Concacaf Champions Cup that comes with the Dewar Challenge Trophy.

In High Point, MLS Next Pro debutantes Carolina Core, who won the extra point after drawing with the Legacy in their first-ever MNP match last Sunday, also advanced with a 3-2 win over NoVa FC (USL Two) in Greensboro on Thursday.  

So did Greenville Triumph (USL One) with a 1-0 win Wednesday against South Carolina United Bantams (USL Two) in Columbia.

Asheville City SC (USL Two) lost to One Knoxville (USL One) 2-0 in Asheville on Wednesday.

The second round will be contested April 2-3. The draw for that will be made on March 22. The full list of teams entered in the Open Cup can be found here.

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