Apr 23

Charlotte FC Stock Up, Stock Down: Team takes a gut punch

By Sam Vanolinda

Brecht Dejaegere (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)

Charlotte FC may be asking for a dome over Bank of America Stadium soon enough because rainy days create nothing but misery for the team this season.

An 0-3 loss versus Minnesota on Sunday night created little positives for the team and little to cheer about for the less than 30,000 people attending the match, which also lacked a supporters tailgate because of an incident between two supporters groups.

Dean Smith took the blame in this instance, “I’ll take responsibility for the performance of the players today,” He noted post-game.

Despite a couple of small chances for the Crown, Minnesota deserved to win this game because of the effort and physicality they showed.

Here is the stock up/stock down for Sunday’s match.

Stock up

Ashley Westwood

There is not much to be positive about for the team on Sunday. As a group, the whole team’s stock took a dip.

That being said, Westwood had an average game, but he seemed the most consistent and ready-to-play out of all the players.

Westwood passed 60 miles of distance traveled this season for the team, which is top 10 in MLS, he also is top 10 in passes into the final third; he has been such a great pivot for this team all season.

Over two marathons run in the team's first nine games is hard not to praise, even if he didn’t have an incredible game this weekend.

He had three chances created in the match, alongside 15 more passes into the final third.

If the team could pair him up with a competent number 10 they would benefit greatly.

Stock down

Enzo Copetti

Copetti goes another game without a goal. It seems like a waste of a DP spot unless he starts to show up this season.

Agyemang seemed the more dangerous striker when he came on, he worked better connecting the team and holding up play. If Copetti is not going to score, Agyemang should make the starting lineup over him.

It seems like Copetti just lacks the quality to be a star in this league; he has heart, and he always hustles, but the DP’s need to make an impact for a team to make the Playoffs and push for the Cup.

As he goes more and more games without a goal it will continue to rub on his confidence, especially with the one-on-ones he has missed already this year.

It could be worth trying to acquire a veteran striker with proven goal-scoring ability in the summer.

Brecht Dejaegere

Dejaegere continues to offer little to the number 10 position.

He is a valuable player in a winger or backup role, but being the point guard for this team, right in the middle of the attack is not going to work.

Arfield was supposed to start but picked up an injury pre-game, but he isn’t the solution either in that CAM role.

71% on passing, 0.02 xG+xA, zero chances created, and zero successful dribbles from that position are not acceptable numbers, especially at home.

Andrew Privett

Privett suffers a lot when Malanda is not in the lineup because Malanda is that physical and instinctive defensive center-back who can bail out a lot of mistakes that the team makes.

Malanda is also adept at being first to the ball on set pieces and 50/50 plays.

Privett was not aggressive enough when Minnesota scored their first goal through Tani Oluwaseyi; despite the amazing finish, he should have gotten in the way of that shot, and not allowed the ball to bounce the way it did.

Once Minnesota scored the first goal, the game turned for the worse for Charlotte.

Privett is still a great center-back, but because he has played most of his career as a defensive midfielder, Malanda helps him be comfortable, especially with defensive actions.

When paired up with Bill Tuiloma, who also had a terrible game Sunday night, his weaknesses as a defender are more apparent.

Look for Privett to bounce back once Malanda is fully healthy again.