Charlotte FC Stock Up, Stock Down: Abada keeps his scoring boots on; Zaha frustrated; Ream too slow
- Sam Vanolinda
- May 12
- 4 min read
By Sam Vanolinda
Charlotte FC fans were only allowed one minute of happiness on Saturday. After Liel Abada put the Crown ahead in the 48th minute, it seemed like the team may have turned around their form and could hold out to get a huge away victory; unfortunately, Hany Mukhtar had different ideas.
One minute later, Nashville SC turned into ‘12 Barcelona. Alex Muyl flicked a throw-in into Mukhtar, who took a touch and half-volleyed the ball into the side of the left post and the net.
The suffering continued five minutes later when Tim Ream wasn’t quick enough to close down Jacob Shaffelburg, who shot the ball near post past Kristijan Kahlina to secure victory.
It was another game in which Charlotte only had a 15-minute period during which they looked like a competent team on the offensive end. With Andrew Privett out, the team looked fragile on the defensive end, allowing 12 shots.
Offensively, Pep Biel looked slow coming back from injury, unable to dominate like he has this year. Wilfried Zaha looked frustrated and did not offer much. Patrick Agyemang was given little service, and his one chance was saved.
All in all, this was a very discouraging performance. The team has to button down the hatches now; it will be a tough stretch of away games to close out May.
Here is the stock up/down for Saturday night’s game:
Stock Up
Liel Abada
Despite starting the season in rough form, Abada has begun to find the score sheet consistently.
A goal mid-week versus NCFC and another one over the weekend in Nashville.
As I have often said, Abada is among the team's best finishers.
Will he routinely beat defenders like Lamine Yamal and create goal-scoring chances? No. But Abada offers a lot because of his positioning and finishing ability. He also has enough speed to break away from defenders on the counterattack.
There is a reason wingers who consistently dribble past defenders are sold for tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.
Abada did not fill out the advanced stat sheet on Saturday, with only 20 passes and one unsuccessful cross. However, when he got the chance, he skipped past a defender and shot the ball where the keeper couldn't save it.
Brandt Bronico
Brandt Bronico was the catalyst in Charlotte’s early second-half goal on Saturday night. He quickly pressed and intercepted a risky pass by Jeisson Palacios before finding Abada, who did the rest of the work.
Even in games where most of the Charlotte FC team was disappointing, Bronico will always be a player you can appreciate. He never gives up, is calm on the ball, and does a lot defensively.
He had three passes into the final third, three tackles, six clearances, an interception, and 13 duels won.
An all-around performance we have grown to expect from Bronico; unfortunately, the other midfielders did not provide much for Charlotte.
Stock Down
Wilfried Zaha
Zaha seems to be more frustrated every game he plays for Charlotte.
While Zaha is a player who is fouled a lot, which frustrates any winger, he lets it get to his head and affect his play.
When you watch him on the left wing, he spends more time complaining to the ref and trying to bait out yellow cards than he does trying to attack the right back and create chances.
It is annoying when the opposing team tries to take you out of the game by fouling, but there are ways around that.
I have watched Zaha for years, and he would get frustrated frequently at Crystal Palace, but he usually uses that frustration to play better and score goals.
One thing Palace has done is move Zaha central when he is getting double-teamed on the wing. In multiple games, Zaha played striker and was successful later in his Premier League career.
Why not give Zaha a try at striker? Agyemang has struggled in the MLS recently; it's worth a try for Dean Smith.
Tim Ream
Ream once again looked slow against Nashville. When you are a defender, you cannot afford to be slow, because if you give the opponent one chance, they will make you pay, especially a team with the quality Nashville has.
As the season has passed, you can notice Ream losing a step, which makes sense for someone 37 years old. The front office is more to blame for not finding better defensive depth than Ream.
He was solid passing the ball (68/76), but for the second goal, he gave Shaffelburg way too much space to line up a shot and fire it into the bottom corner.
As I have said, Ream is not the player to rely on for a team that usually lacks the ball. While Charlotte won the possession battle today, it was only because they were losing from the 54th minute on.
Pep Biel
I will not be hard on Biel because he is returning from a painful injury. With that said, it was not the comeback game you would want.
Let’s hope Biel fully recovers and returns to his early-season ways in the next few games. The team relies on him too heavily for him to disappear in games.
Only 28 touches, zero dribbles, dispossessed twice, and 17 passes in 66 minutes.
Not much more needs to be said. Biel and the entire team must step up to snap this three-game losing streak. We look toward Orlando on Wednesday.
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