Charlotte FC’s Stock Up, Stock Down: Charlotte’s woes continue in a 2-0 home loss to I-85 rivals

By Billy McGee - @iambillymcgee

Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90

Charlotte FC now has one less opportunity to win a trophy in the 2026 season after being knocked out of the U.S. Open Cup in the Round of 16 yet again. No big chances created and just a pair of shots on target prevented them from finding the back of the net as their southern rivals, Atlanta United, advanced to the Quarterfinals of the competition.

Here’s a look at our stock up, stock down from Charlotte’s U.S. Open Cup loss:

Stock Down

Dean Smith - Charlotte FC is now 0-4 in elimination rounds against MLS-level competition under Dean Smith and has lost its last three games across all competitions. He said in the post-match presser that he fielded a team that he thinks should’ve won, but that’s hard to argue for when looking at the squad. In a must-win game that would’ve taken the club the furthest it’s ever been in the U.S. Open Cup, he opted for a rotated squad featuring five players who have never made a start in MLS play for Charlotte FC.

Some fans have been showing their frustrations with the results and with the manager, having higher expectations for the team than what they are currently showing. There was even an altercation between Dean Smith and a fan during the 2-0 loss. Smith and Charlotte FC now face increased pressure to succeed in MLS after being knocked out of one of the three competitions they play in this season. Given their current form, something needs to change quickly if they are to make something of this season.

Liel Abada - With yet another opportunity to earn himself more minutes with his play, the DP winger put up another poor performance. In his 66 minutes before being subbed off, he had 41 touches, only one of which was in the box, zero shots, failed to put in an accurate cross or complete a dribble, was dispossessed four times, and won just 30 percent of his ground duels. After again failing to prove his value as a DP, Abada will likely be relegated to the bench in a full-strength squad, with Smith favoring Rodolfo Aloko and Kerwin Vargas over him in recent games.

Defensive shape - The difference in Charlotte’s defense following Tim Ream’s injury has been noticeable, allowing four goals in each of the two games following his injury and allowing another two against Atlanta that should have been preventable. Without Ream, it seems that after one error, there will be a string of errors to follow, like dominoes leading to a goal. Atlanta’s first goal was set up when Andrew Privett stepped forward to pressure Alexey Miranchuk, which left the Charlotte defense scrambling to recover when the Atlanta captain laid the ball off to another player and received the return pass, leading to his goal.

The second goal came off another error when Privett tried to shield off Cooper Sanchez, but collided with Tyler Miller, leaving an open goal for Sanchez to double the score. The upcoming return of Ream should help to steady the backline going forward, and these prevent goalscoring opportunities that teams weren’t getting against Charlotte earlier in the season.