Charlotte FC Stock Up, Stock Down: Defensive and midfield struggles lead to another heavy away defeat; Vargas and Tyger Smalls are bright spots.
- Sam Vanolinda
- 16 hours ago
- 4 min read
By Sam Vanolinda
It’s a problem that has plagued counter-attacking teams worldwide in football. What happens when you have to possess the ball? When your opponent allows you to keep the ball and hits you with an effective press?
Charlotte FC feels comfortable against a full-strength team that dominates possession, but when they have to build out of the back and sustain possession, they struggle to win.
Wednesday’s 4-2 loss versus the New York Red Bulls was a demonstration of that.
NYRB constantly dispossessed Charlotte FC in dangerous areas and capitalized on it, with two open-play goals and two second-half penalties.
It didn’t help that Charlotte’s back line and midfield both didn’t show up in New Jersey.
Head Coach Dean Smith is done with the moral victories:
“I’m getting frustrated at saying I think we’ve played well, and we lose the game. We’re making too many mistakes at the moment.” A disgruntled Smith said post-match.
Here’s the stock up/ stock down for Wednesday night’s defeat:
Stock Up
Kerwin Vargas
When the ball did make it into the final third for the Crown, the team looked dangerous.
Kerwin Vargas was explosive in this game; not only did he tie the game with his 26th-minute goal, but he also utilized his speed and dribbling to create problems on the right wing.
He created two chances, looking more lively than Abada has looked recently from the right side, before he was substituted for the Israeli.
Vargas continues to ask questions about whether he should consistently start. Despite Abada also grabbing a goal, Vargas had a better game.
Vargas has gone from a regular starter last year to a rotational player this season. That can be hard for a player to take. Every time Vargas gets into the game, he shows effort and drive to prove to the team that he deserves playing time.
Tyger Smalls
All you can ask from a young substitute is to provide energy, and that’s precisely what Smalls did.
The 22-year-old Englishman was brought into a striker role, replacing Agyemang, and he looked threatening.
He came in the 71st minute and caused havoc; he was routinely the outlet when Charlotte was trying to claw back two goals.
Smalls got onto a pass from Zaha and almost drew a penalty; he then set up Zaha with a header into his feet before the Ivorian’s shot was saved.
He made a noticeable impact, he provides good pace and dribbling quality in a central role when subbed as a striker; something Smith will likely continue utilizing in future fixtures while Idan Toklomati is out.
Stock Down
Kristijan Kahlina
We did not expect Kahlina to replicate his superhero season from last year in 2025. All fans anticipated was something somewhat similar.
While the beginning of the season seemed like it would be the same old Kahlina, keeping clean sheets left and right and bailing the team out with miraculous saves, as of late, he has shown many cracks in his armor.
He has lost slight focus. He was beaten with a poked near-post shot for the first goal, an uncharacteristic strike for the Croatian to allow in.
While the rest of the three goals were two penalties and a crafty finish from Mohammed Sofo, which you can’t blame Kahlina for, it's evident to any fan watching that Kahlina has declined in his recent matches.
The Midfield Duo
While it is very easy to blame the center back pairing and wing backs for the waterfall of goals that Charlotte has allowed in May (23 to be exact), at a certain point, you have to look at the two holding mids.
When Charlotte was in stride at the start of the season, there was a defensive and an offensive synergy between the defensive four and the two pivots.
The ball was not only being routinely stopped and cleared by the midfield two, but it was also very easy for the ball to move from defense to midfield when regaining possession.
On Wednesday, it was a discombobulated mess. Ashley Westwood and Eryk Williamson could not get into the flow of the offense. While the Red Bulls' press was effective, Charlotte struggled to cope with it, often forcing bad passes and being dispossessed.
Whenever the Black and Blue tried to play out of the press, it had me wishing they just played the ball long towards Patrick Agyemang.
All in all, both Westwood and Williamson were off their game on Wednesday night, which led to the back four being put into difficult positions, resulting in the mistakes and the two penalties that ultimately won NYRB the game.
The Center Back Duo
While I just said the entire blame can’t be put on Andrew Privett and Adilson Malanda last night, the mistakes they made and the embarrassing number of goals they have let up recently can't be ignored.
For the first goal, Privett plays Wiktor Bogacz onside and makes no effort to stop the shot going in. For the second goal, Malanda lazily watches the cross come in and reacts after the ball has gone into the net. For the third goal, Privett clumsily swipes the leg of Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting. The fourth goal wasn’t a penalty, but still a bad decision by Malanda to create any contact there.
Lapses of concentration over and over again. These two young players have excelled beyond their years for 90% of their time in the MLS, but now it seems their youth is finally catching up to them.
When you defend, you must do so as a team and with utmost concentration and effort. Any team, in any league, is going to capitalize against a lazy, undisciplined back line.