Three things we learned from Head Coach Dean Smith's first season with Charlotte FC
By Sam Vanolinda
Dean Smith addresses the Charlotte crowd after the 2024 regular season home finale (Photo courtesy of CJ Hellner/TopBin90)
It has officially been a year since Dean Smith joined Charlotte FC as the head coach. After a turbulent 2023 offseason, during which many coaches, including Frank Lampard and Robin Fraser , were discussed for the role, Smith was announced as the man at the helm for the future in Charlotte.
After a year it is safe to say the Smith has become a calming presence within the club. He has brought structure to the team and effectively implemented his style of play, leading to a playoff spot.
Despite the heartbreaking loss to Orlando City, Dean Smith’s first season has to be viewed positively. Smith’s side was organized, compact, and defensively adept, and despite having offensive struggles at times, it still squeezed out results.
Adilson Malanda emerged as the heartbeat of the backline that only allowed 37 goals, good for second-best in MLS behind the Seattle Sounders. Combined with Premier League veteran Tim Ream, fellow youngster Andrew Privett, and a combination of Nathan Byrne and Jere Uronen, the team was hard to break down.
That isn’t even mentioning MLS Goalkeeper of the Year Kristijan Kahlina who was as solid as a keeper can be all season long.
Since it’s now been a year, what better time to reflect on what we have learned under Head Coach Smith so far:
Defensive structure
We knew that Smith was a traditional English manager who emphasized structure, but Charlotte fans were anxious heading into the season because of Christian Lattanzio's chaotic tenure as head coach.
In 2023, the team would repeatedly be up in matches, only to melt down and lose composure in the late stages.
Smith came in and immediately had the team playing organized situational football. Instead of pressing forward late in games when the team was holding onto a lead, he trusted in the skill of his backline and keeper and had them sit back at times and absorb pressure.
The squad went from seven clean sheets in 2023 to an impressive 12 in 2024, only behind Seattle for most in the league.
“Every clean sheet means the world to us,” Captain Ashley Westwood said while reflecting on the season, “That starts from the boys up top pressing. If we come back in the right frame of mind and the right fitness that we did this year, we’re on the right track to go win something.”
What Smith taught us and what is a very embraced approach to the game over in England is that it doesn’t always have to be pretty to work (look at 2024 Arsenal). Sometimes a team has to dig in and win a scrappy game to progress, and that is what Charlotte did this year, which ended with them finishing fifth in the East.
In 2024, Charlotte FC was dead last in possession with 44.2%, third to last in touches with 18,620, and fourth-to-last in touches in the attacking third, but it still produced 46.7 xG, which was only slightly below average.
They absorbed pressure and counterattacked relatively well. A top-four finish would have been very realistic if the attacking players had more time to gel and fewer lineup changes.
We know now that the team can focus on improving the offense in the offseason. Even if Malanda ends up in Europe, Ream and Privett are great options as a center-back duo, and Charlotte still has João Pedro and plenty more youngsters who can rise up the system and learn from Smith.
Personality and likeability
A lot of what makes Smith a great coach is his dedication and passion on the field, as well as his lightheartedness and glowing personality off the field.
Smith came into the team with a positive attitude and a smile on his face, and that rubbed off on the players and the organization.
Dean Smith at his introductory press conference (Photo courtesy of Cisco's Art/TopBin90)
Even when the team would go through a tough stretch of games, the fans online and at the games would still get behind their coach. The community trusts him because of the wealth of experience he has.
Smith has a great relationship with his players and is never hesitant to praise the qualities of the team. He goes into the second season with hope for an even better finish and a deeper run into the playoffs:
“How much they’ve grown so far this season, that’s what gives me hope,” Smith reflected after the Orlando loss. “The attitude, the application of the players, the team spirit, the teamwork, I think that will just grow, that will get better, I think we’ve started something here, we’ve been watering it, and it's been growing, and I think it will continue to grow.”
Smith’s wine cabinet has to be refilled in the offseason after the 12 clean sheets last year because as many know, Smith would reward the defense (and sometimes the whole team) with a bottle of wine for each clean sheet they accumulated throughout the year.
A small competition like that may not seem like a lot, but it builds team chemistry and allows players to relax and enjoy themselves. Smith is a serious coach but also can have fun and enjoy the game.
Smith's personality is not just enjoyed on a local scale, he had a feature piece written on him by the Athletic that was featured in the New York Times talking about how he is “unifying” Charlotte FC.
The article goes into detail about training camp foot golf competitions, golf sessions, scavenger hunts, quiz games, and swim meets. All these team-building tasks created a family atmosphere before the season even began.
The foundation of a championship-winning team is a coach who has the players both laser-focused and passionate about the game but also relaxed and comfortable with each other, and that is what Smith has brought to the Crown.
Offensive struggles (and plans to fix them)
Smith will be the first person to tell you that the team had struggles in the final third in 2024.
“We had the best defensive record in the East,” Smith explained, “What we need to go on and improve during the close season is on the ball, in the final third… We’re a good fit team, but there’s lots of different things we can improve on.”
One of the biggest reasons for the final-third offensive struggles is the amount of rotation that was happening last year in that area of the field.
It's hard to develop chemistry and flow as an attacking unit when players are getting injured or are being dropped due to performance; Smith would rotate through Patrick Agyemang, Karol Swiderski, Kerwin Vargas, Liel Abada, Iuri Tavares, Pep Biel when he arrived, Ben Bender, and even Tyger Smalls, Nimfasha Berchimas, Idan Toklomati and Jamie Paterson got minutes.
Charlotte's list of attackers also included Enzo Copetti, Brecht Dejaegere, and Scott Arfield who were all rotated through the lineup at the beginning of the season before moving to other clubs. The attacking line had a lot of moving parts.
Now when you go back to looking at the defensive four, despite some small amounts of shuffling when Tim Ream joined the squad, it remained relatively consistent - that is one reason why they were such a strong force.
Before Smith is judged for his offensive coaching ability he needs a full offseason and some more transfers that are inspired by him.
He was close to picking up electric Paraguyuan winger Miguel Almirón over the summer before the deal broke down. The Goal article linked also goes into the deal that Charlotte had with Calvin Stengs who would’ve been a high-impact player on the team but had a lingering injury he was dealing with.
Given Smith’s reputation and relationship with some of the star players he has formally managed over the Atlantic, some big names could be linked with the club in January.
TopBin90's Brian Maurer went into detail in his recent article about players he thinks the club may target to replace Pep Biel who was not bought after his loan spell at the club.
Guys like Ángel Correa and Harry Wilson would create a ton of excitement seeing them in solar blue; in addition, fans have been speculating since the beginning about the idea of Jack Grealish, who sent the team a good luck message before their game against NYCFC and called Smith “The real goat,” in a Twitter message.
It's safe to say the team struggled with maintaining possession and creating chances when in attacking positions. Despite that, there are plenty of bright sparks that may have the team looking different at the start of the 2025 season. One of those is the transfers that will come in January, but also the progression of Patrick Agyemang.
Agyemang looked like a true star at the tail end of the 2024 season. A net-ripping striker who could get 20+ goals in a season in his prime by the look of things. Once Smith has a couple more offensive weapons at his disposal mixed in with Agyemang the offense could turn it around in 2025.
