Charlotte FC’s top 3 performers in Feb/March

By Billy McGee - @iambillymcgee

Pep Biel celebrates one of his goals scored against Austin FC (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)

Charlotte FC has played five matches through February and March, earning eight points and sitting in fourth place in the Eastern Conference. While their table position looks good, the Eastern Conference is a tight race this early, as four points separate second and ninth. They had ups and downs in the young season, having a 3-0 loss against LA Galaxy and also a 6-1 win over New York Red Bulls. Outside of those outlier results, they have had two draws and a 3-1 win against a 10-man Austin FC.

They seemed to have found the starting lineup for the most part, with Morrison holding down the center back spot that was up for grabs in the preseason, while the right wing position rotates between Liel Abada and Kerwin Vargas. In the midfield, a spot appears open and is being rotated between Luca de la Torre, Brandt Bronico, and Djibril Diani.

The defense has held strong apart from the bad loss on the road to Galaxy, while the attack has been sporadic, with goals coming in small bunches.

Here are our picks for Charlotte FC’s top three performers for February and March:

Pep Biel

After returning to Charlotte on a permanent deal, the Spanish midfielder has picked up where he left off last season, already contributing four goals and an assist through five games. His ability on set pieces has been very important for the team, as one of the primary free-kick takers, he has helped Charlotte improve at creating goalscoring opportunities from dead-ball situations compared to previous seasons.

Biel has spent a lot of time around the opponent’s box this year and has been efficient finishing, with just under half of his total shots being on target and 66% of his shots on target finding the back of the net. If he begins to provide the level of playmaking for others that we saw from him last season, while maintaining his prowess around the box that he’s shown this year, then Charlotte could be in store for an even better Biel.

Kristijan Kahlina

Kahlina always has high expectations as one of the best goalkeepers in the league, and this year maybe exceeding them so far. The Croatian leads the league in G-xG (-3.33) according to American Soccer Analysis and leads the league in saves while having faced the fourth most shots on any goalkeeper. Of the goalkeepers that have faced 30 or more shots this season, Kahlina is the only one to allow fewer than 10 goals.

With a changed backline in front of him, the 2024 MLS Goalkeeper of the Year has helped stabilize the defense while they mesh as a unit following the winter departure of Adilson Malanda. Despite the stats, Kahlina has only kept one clean sheet out of five to start the season. As the year goes on and the new backline combination gets more games together under their belt, we can expect those to come more often.

Ashley Westwood

Westwood has been the key cog in the machine for Dean Smith’s system during his time here, and that has been no different this season. The 35-year-old midfielder is on the ball more than any other player for Charlotte FC and has won 71.4% of his duels while not being dispossessed a single time so far this season, according to FotMob. He has also been superb as a passer with an accurate pass rate of 89.3% with 25 accurate long balls. 

Westwood’s ability to transition from defense to build-up play and join the attack is crucial for Charlotte as a true box-to-box midfielder. His intelligence on the pitch is second to none as he knows where he needs to be at all times and holds the team together as a leader with the captain’s armband on.

Summary

After a shaky first two games, Charlotte FC bounced back and looked much better during its home stretch. One area of concern could be that both of their wins came against teams that had a player sent off with a red card early. While they were already playing well before the red card in the match against the Red Bulls, the sending off still impacts the game. With a difficult April schedule featuring first-place Nashville twice and a matchup on the road with second-place New York City FC, the question that remains is whether they can maintain the consistency they have found on their home stretch over a longer period of time and find success in possession against full-strength sides for 90 minutes.

Charlotte FC’s April Schedule

April 4: vs Philadelphia Union

April 11: vs Nashville SC

April 14-15: US Open Cup Round of 32

April 18: at New York City FC

April 22: at Orlando City SC

April 25: at Nashville SC