Charlotte FC making a move up the MLS East table

TROY HULL | THE CHARLOTTE POST

Kristijan Kahlina's improved goalkeeping in recent weeks is among the reasons for Charlotte FC's quality in establishing MLS's longest current win streak.

Winning changes everything. 

Charlotte FC manager Dean Smith says the boys are, “obviously a little bit chirpier and happier as they should be having earned an extra day off by getting the result.” With a 3-2 win in Atlanta and no match midweek due to the MLS All-Star Game, he gave the team Monday and Tuesday off after recovery work on Sunday. 

Seventh in the MLS East, Charlotte FC has the longest active victory streak in the entire league with three. They are unbeaten in the last four matches, with a 2-2 draw against sixth-place Orlando City preceding it.

If form holds with a Crown win over Toronto FC Saturday at Bank of America Stadium, and fourth-place Columbus takes down Orlando in Ohio, Charlotte (11-11-2) can pull even with Orlando (10-6-8) on 38 points but move ahead in the table with more wins. Kickoff is 7:30 p.m. 

Also on 35 points, NYCFC (10-8-5), which has a game in hand over Charlotte, is at Dallas. Even with three points there, Charlotte would still reign in total wins.

Smith acknowledges this will be a different Toronto side than the one faced earlier this season. Gone is the Italian accent with the club parting ways with DP forwards Lorenzo Insigne and Federico Bernardeschi, two of the highest-paid players in the league.  Whether that leads to addition by subtraction in better team cohesion remains to be seen. Toronto lost 1-0 last time out at Nashville but upset Western Conference leaders San Diego 1-0 in the match prior for their third win on the road. 

Band on the run

Cincinnati and Miami are the only teams to have won five straight this season. Both have also had separate four-match runs, so it’s no surprise that FCC sits first in the MLS East. Miami is fifth, but the Barcelona Beach Boys aren’t worried as they still have three games in hand due to their participation in the FIFA Club World Cup.

Charlotte did win three consecutive games early in the season, but there’s a difference. Neither Cincy nor Miami has lost back-to-back games, while the Crown was tarnished by strings of five straight losses and three straight in a 12-game stretch where they lost nine and won two. Eight games were on the road, including a 2-0 win over Toronto (5-12-6) on May 31. 

Vancouver started the season with four straight wins, and New England had a run that good. Nashville and San Diego have stitched together separate four-game and three-game streaks. Philadelphia and Columbus have two three-game runs. 

MLS doesn’t bend on Messi 

In case you were wondering if Lionel Messi has a free pass to do what he pleases in MLS, here you go. The Argentine may be bigger than soccer for many; however, his failure to appear at the All-Star Game in Austin last Wednesday, as well as teammate Jordi Alba, will make them “unavailable for the club’s match against FC Cincinnati on Saturday, July 26,” according to an announcement Friday from the MLS office.

“Per league rules, any player who does not participate in the All-Star Game without prior approval from the league is ineligible to compete in their club’s next match.”

Messi did not participate in last year’s game either due to an injury incurred while playing for Argentina in the Copa America. While it’s been posited that this year’s absence was due to the heavy schedule of Miami, which included the FIFA Club World Cup.

As the match is in Florida, FCC fans will not be punished in the process by missing Messi at TQL Stadium. 

"I know Lionel Messi loves this league. I don’t think there’s a player, or anyone, who has done more for Major League Soccer than Messi," MLS Commissioner Don Garber told the Miami Herald. "I fully understand, respect, and admire his commitment to Inter Miami, and I respect his decision. “Unfortunately, we have a long-standing policy regarding participation in the All-Star Game, and we had to enforce it. It was a very difficult decision. That said, we’re going to take a hard look at the policy moving forward. I’m committed to working with our players to determine how the rule should evolve.”

Messi and Alba played in last Saturday's 5-1 win against New York Red Bulls. Alba was subbed out in the second half with an injury. How that wasn’t cleared with the league office has not been reported. 

The last major star to incur a suspension was former LA Galaxy forward Zlatan Ibrahimovi?, who skipped the match in 2018. The man who announced his arrival to MLS earlier that year with a full-page ad in the Los Angeles Times that read, “Los Angeles, You’re welcome,” said, "It think it is ridiculous, but yeah, no comments. They do whatever they want. I come from a different world. I come from the real world.”

Next up

After Toronto, Charlotte goes to Leagues Cup competition with three games against Liga MX sides at Bank of America Stadium. The first phase games are against FC Juarez on July 31, Chivas de Guadalajara on Aug. 3, and CF Monterrey, who recently competed in the FIFA Club World Cup, on Aug. 7. 

Comments