More than anything else, Charlotte FC needed to come out of 2024 with some direction.
By the boxscore metrics and even some of the underlying numbers, they’d done pretty well for an expansion club in 2022 and 2023. But by the eye test and the overall sense of where the team was and what it was doing, everything in those first two years seemed stitched together.
Not anymore. The Crown got 51 points and some clarity. It was a very successful season.
There is a very obvious reason to hire Dean Smith: His system – a no-frills 4-3-3ish, 4-2-3-1 hybrid, with a low block and an emphasis on trading both possession and field position for space to counterattack into – raises the floor for teams that are still sorting out the finer points of their personnel.
It’s a trick the veteran English manager pulled off repeatedly last decade with the likes of Brentford and Aston Villa (though he was subsequently less successful with Norwich and Leicester over the past few years, which is why he was available to be hired by an MLS team in the first place).
Decluttering was absolutely necessary in the wake of Christian Lattanzio’s galaxy-brained approach to both principles of play and roster management. In the end, Charlotte ended up near the bottom of the league in all the “do they want the ball?” metrics, including dead last in possession. And look, I don’t think you can win an MLS Cup, Supporters’ Shield or Leagues Cup that way.
But they produced one of the top defenses in the league by both the boxscore and underlying numbers. And that’s the foundation they'll build from going forward.
The system played to the strengths of Smith’s personnel, most notably the 2024 Goalkeeper of the Year, Kristjian Kahlina. The Croat’s shot-stopping was brilliant, but so was his control of the area – as per FBRef, he was in the 91st percentile of defensive actions outside of his area and the 84th percentile of average distance of defensive actions from the goal line (16.7 yards).
He was, in short, brilliant in all the “traditional ‘keeper” ways, and nearly as good in all of the “modern ‘keeper” ways. That includes his comfort playing from the back.
Just in front of him was the defensive pairing of Andrew Privett and Adilson Malanda, each of whom could be in the Defender of the Year race next year. They were so good and perfectly complementary of each other that veteran Tim Ream was eventually shuffled over to left back. It just did not make sense to break up the Privett and Malanda pairing (and just one note: I’ll scream bloody murder if Privett isn’t in USMNT camp in January. He’s that kind of talent).
Getting a healthy year out of Ashley Westwood (he missed one game across all competitions all season long and played nearly 3,500 minutes) at d-mid was the final piece of the puzzle. With that kind of talent and a mandate to keep the game in front of them, Charlotte were the definition of a tough out.
One thing was absolutely clear by the end of the year: the best attacker on the team was second-year pro Patrick Agyemang, who Charlotte snagged in the middle of the first round of the 2023 SuperDraft.
That’s a great story and I am a proud member of the Agyemang hive. He looks like a high-level starting No. 9 in this league for many years to come.
The problem is this reflects poorly on the trio of DPs – forward Karol Swiderski, winger Liel Abada and playmaker Pep Biel. None of them was a locked-in starter by the end of the year. Neither were any of the three U22 Initiative signings on the roster.
Since the summer of 2022, per Transfermarkt, Charlotte have regularly spent in/around seven figures to acquire players. Only one (Kahlina) has become a no-doubt-about-it starter.
That is insane.
- Kristijan Kahlina (GK): Had an all-time year. Can he follow it up with another?
- Andrew Privett (CB): Reminds me of Matt Besler with his midfielder-by-trade, 360-degree awareness and ability to defend on the front foot.
- Adilson Malanda (CB): If he takes another step forward next year, he’ll be in the DotY discussion. Or sold for eight figures.
- Patrick Agyemang (FW): The worst mistake Charlotte could make this winter is recruiting a DP No. 9 over him.
- Ashley Westwood (DM): Was really excellent on both sides of the ball. Hopefully he’s got a year or two left in those 34-year-old legs.
Agyemang was 75th percentile in goals this year, 64th percentile in non-penalty xG and 82nd percentile in shot-creating actions among all forwards. He’s also, for a target man, an elite face-up option: 93rd percentile in progressive carries and 91st percentile in successful take-ons.
He did all this with zero quality chance creators around him (Biel could maybe be that guy, but his loan expires next month and I highly doubt he’ll be back. And if he is, it shouldn’t be as a DP). How much better does he become if that finally changes?
So here’s where things stand: Charlotte will have one open DP slot, and potentially two if they buy out the final year of Swiderski’s deal. Abada was disappointing in his first half-season, but he cost a lot, he’s under contract for three more years and he clearly knows where the goal is. He should be in the XI from the jump in 2025.
The very obvious thing to me, then, is to add a midfield playmaker and a winger opposite Abada who’s more playmaker-oriented than goal-oriented. That should be the job this winter.
The elephant in the room: Can general manager Zoran Krneta be relied upon to identify the right players in those spots? He’s the guy who’s missed more than hit on big-money signings over the past three years. The track record doesn't instill confidence.
Smith raised the floor. It’s on Krneta to finally raise the ceiling.
