Charlotte FC’s Stock Up, Stock Down: Charlotte FC drops all three points against one of the Eastern Conference’s top teams

By Billy McGee - @iambillymcgee

Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90

Despite scoring the first goal inside of 20 minutes, Charlotte FC failed to defend their lead against the Chicago Fire, losing it just minutes after going up and conceding a second to Robert Lewandowski after the break, losing 2-1 on the road.

Here’s our stock up, stock down for Charlotte FC’s loss against the fourth place Chicago Fire:

Stock Up

Pep Biel - Pep Biel has been the bright spot of the Charlotte attack all season long, leading the team in both goals and assists. Against Chicago he had to move out wide with the recent departure of Kerwin Vargas and the club still waiting for Allan Saint-Maximin to arrive leaving a hole on the right. While playing on the wing, Biel continued to be Charlotte’s best player and impacted the attack, scoring their only goal of the match and taking eight of the team’s 14 shots. Biel also completed the most dribbles of any Charlotte player in the match with three. Biel could stay out wide until Saint-Maximin can join the team, giving them the quality winger they need.

Stock Down

Attacking depth - As previously mentioned, the outbound transfer of Kerwin Vargas combined with the Saint-Maximin delay forced Dean Smith to alter the lineup, moving Biel from his natural position of attack midfielder to the right wing. With Biel on the right, the midfield didn't have anyone joining the attack to make the difference. Biel being able to play as a winger does give some depth and flexibility at the position, but overall there are depth issues with the attacking unit, with Rodolfo Aloko and Tyger Smalls being the only wingers available on the bench. Until Saint-Maximin arrives in Charlotte and slots into the lineup these issues will be apparent. The problem won’t be entirely fixed when he joins, as the hole left by Kerwin Vargas will still need to be filled.

Kristijan Kahlina - Coming off one of his best performances of the season, Kahlina followed it up with a lackluster showing in Chicago. He saw five shots on target and made three saves with a goals prevented total of -0.44. On the first goal he was too slow to get to the spot to make the save near the post. He did make some good saves in the match however, including one on a shot from Philip Zinckernagel in the 56th minute, but overall didn’t play consistently across 90 minutes.

Shooting - Charlotte FC managed just one shot on target in the match out of 14 attempts including nine shots blocked. They didn’t necessarily struggle to get into the positions to shoot, having 25 touches in the box, but couldn’t create good looks at goal from those positions. If they continue to be inconsistent in the attack they will struggle to get points when needed down the stretch.