Charlotte FC's Stock Up, Stock Down: Zaha scores in MLS debut, Privett stood tall in the wall, Smith says Bronico was "excellent"
By Sam Vanolinda
To quote Sir Minty’s new best friend Tom Bogert: He’s Wilfried Zaha, dude.
What a picture-perfect weekend for Charlotte FC. Following a shaky first half, the stars aligned for Wilfried Zaha when, first, he accidentally poked a ball through to Pep Biel for the opening score, and then expertly finished a volley into the bottom right corner to secure the three points against rival Atlanta United.
Zaha’s signature fist pump jump celebration will be remembered forever in the atmospheric, passionate Selhurst Park, but now it has traveled 3982 miles to the cauldron of a stadium that is the Bank, where 50,000 Pepas-loving fans embraced him at the same moment he embraced them.
Whether his stadium sells steak pies or Bojangles chicken boxes, Zaha will always be the same player. A player that isn’t shaken by the moment; a player that can have a quiet half and adjust to win a game for his team.
At the beginning of the game, fellow Ivorian Emmanuel Latte Lath seemed like the player that would hog the spotlight Saturday Afternoon, but the great defensive showings from the entire back four and Kahlina steadied the ship and allowed Zaha to take over in the second half.
Let's take a look at the stock up/down from the Crown's 2-0 win versus Atlanta United:
Stock Up
Wilfried Zaha
Zaha had a very quiet game in the first half. Atlanta wing-back Matthew Edwards was man-marking him; which caused him to have little time on the ball.
The touches he did have were rusty. You could tell he was feeling out the intensity of the league in his opening minutes — limit testing what he could do and what he couldn’t.
“I had a little go at a few people because I want to win” Zaha added post-game, “I just thought we just need to speed up what we are doing, and once we did speed it up I don’t think they could live with us in the second half.”
Zaha is a player who is going to be vocal, and he told his teammates that they need to get the ball to him quicker so he has time to turn and progress. In the second half, Zaha came deeper to get the ball, and left back Tim Ream began to press forward slightly to take advantage of the space Zaha created because he was being man-marked.
Eventually, Charlotte FC managed to create more attacking opportunities, and Zaha was at the right place at the right time like a superstar player is.
Zaha did not have a dominant game, but he still was there when the team needed him. That is what a DP should be. You will not always be embarrassing defenders and taking 10 shots on goal; all Zaha needed was one.
This game was reminiscent of his last year at Crystal Palace. He transitioned into more of a poacher, rather than a winger who will dribble past players constantly. That is what you are going to get from Zaha here in Charlotte.
Andrew Privett
I could put the entire defense for the stock-up segment of the article, but I will single out Privett for his performance on Saturday.
Privett was a brick wall. He had the incredibly hard task of trying to deal with Lath, Miguel Almiron, and Saba Lobjanidze. This is easily a top-five front three in the league, which Atlanta United has spent over $30 million to acquire.
Deal with them he did. Privett had 7 clearances, two interceptions, one tackle, one block, three recoveries, and was 89% on passing; most importantly, one clean sheet.
I have to give credit to Tim Ream as well. After struggling last week versus Seattle, he had the job of marking Almiron and did an exceptional job.
Pep Biel
Two goal contributions in two games, a good start to the year for the Spaniard.
In addition to his great finish for the opening goal of the game, Biel started to find pockets in the defense that allowed the team to progress forward in the second half.
I think that Biel should be the player on the team that touches the ball more than anyone. He has the dribbling ability to create attacking opportunities for the team.
Even though he had a great game against Atlanta, I think Biel will get better as the season goes on once he is fully fit.
Brandt Bronico
It didn’t take long for Brandt Bronico to prove himself worthy of being in the starting lineup like he was at the end of the 2024 season.
“I thought the midfield two were excellent,” Dean Smith said post-match. “Ashley Westwood and Brandt Bronico, they snuffed out any danger in front of the back four really quickly, they went and pressed really well when they needed to and they had really good balance. I thought BB especially was excellent today.”
Bronico was impressive as always with his hustle and pressing. Although Eryk Williamson took his spot for the first game, Bronico proved why he is so valuable to the team.
Bronico does all the dirty work and increases the energy of the team. He is a player that will be key to Charlotte’s success. He can make an impact on both ends of the field.
Stock Down
Patrick Agyemang
I am not going to go too hard on Agyemang, because I am sure there will be a point in this season that he feels unstoppable; all strikers have dry patches.
With that said, he was completely silent in this game. He did put pressure on Atlanta when chasing after the long balls that Charlotte was sending forward. The two goals were a result of long balls, the first being a long ball directed to Agyemang.
He will always be great at pressuring the center-backs when the ball is in the air, but we all know that Agyemang is much more than that. He needs to start coming short just to get a couple of touches on the ball to get into the game.
One shot, only two successful passes in the entire 78 minutes he played, 16 touches, and a yellow card. Not a day you will remember for Agyemang.
Liel Abada
Abada is on the decline again. He just has not felt like a Designated Player so far this year.
He is a winger with decent pace, he can control possession to a solid extent, and he will make the easy play. None of those qualities scream DP.
13 passes, one chance created, and zero accurate crosses; hopefully in the upcoming games we can get the ball to him more to see what he can do.
Eryk Williamson
It never bodes well when your coach jumps on a presser the previous week visibly frustrated and upset with the team's performance and then you are the player that is benched in the follow-up game. Especially when your replacement, Bronico in this case, is talked about as being “excellent today.”
This is the scenario Willamson is now in. The upside is he looks like a great option for 30 minutes every game off the bench to reinforce any of the three midfield roles. This will surely get him regular reps and could lead him to earn a starting spot back in the coming weeks.
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