I hope Pep says "Hold my cerveza" next Saturday!

Any Charlotte fans planning on making the trip out west to Portland? I grew up near Portland and have been a fan since I was a kid. When I got stationed on the east coast (Norfolk, VA) in 2021 I wanted an east coast team to follow. Conveniently Charlotte was minted in 2022…perfect timing! While living out east I was able to attend a match and the vibes were fantastic.

I’ve continued to follow CFC since moving back west, and always root for them, except when they play Portland. I was curious if any CFC supporters were gonna make the trip out west. I’d love to buy you a beer and hopefully swap scarfs. Thanks!

Inter Miami--55 points

games remaining: @ RBNY, vs. Cincinnati, @ New England, vs. Charlotte

New England--52 points

games remaining: @ Philadelphia, vs. RBNY, vs. Inter Miami, @ Orlando City

Chicago--48 points

games remaining: @ Atlanta United, vs. Orlando City, @ Colorado, vs. Columbus

Charlotte--47 points

games remaining: @ Portland, vs. Montreal, vs. Orlando City, @ Inter Miami

Philadelphia--46 points

games remaining: vs. New England, @ Nashville, @ Cincinnati, vs. Toronto

*I don't think Orlando City, at 41 points, can leap frog into the top 4, but it is possible, as they play us, Chicago, & New England.

Most would probably look at the remaining schedules & say Chicago has the least difficult draw.

My opinion is that if we can get 8 points in our last 4, we'll finish top 4.

Thoughts??

So, let’s have an around the Crown conversation. What are everyone’s thoughts about last night’s CLTFC draw with Philadelphia Union? I feel like”blah”. Nice to have, better than a loss, but something feels very off with the team.

Wrote up my thoughts right after the final whistle. A few of them:

• Five changes to the XI. Toffolo getting a breather with two games this week makes sense, but Ream, Bronico, Abada and Cleary sitting feels like a message too.
• First half had no energy. Westwood and Tok both missed high-percentage chances.
• Tok’s third straight game with a goal, plus a great kick save from Kahlina right before it, put Charlotte up 2-1.
• Kessler was a step late on the Damiani equalizer. I’m curious whether Smith thinks the effort was fine. (Update: Dean was fine with it, but admitted he was a step too late.)
• Kahlina was POTG again. Opponents get more shots on target against us, and he leads MLS in saves.

Both teams played like it was the playoffs.

I do these Instant Reactions after every Charlotte FC match at Charlotte Footy: https://charlottefooty.substack.com/p/postgame-instant-reactions-charlotte-37d

Hey y'all,

I have a large group going to this game and I'm wanting to give them the "full experience". We were planning on tailgating at the McNinch lot and doing the march.

If the game is at 1, what time would the march be and what time would we need to get to the McNinch lot?

Thanks everyone!

Charlotte Independence just won the player's shield (supporters shield equivalent). I'd be curious to hear if anyone follows this team and what players you think would be cool to try out in Charlotte given our issue at midfield (and depth at other positions)!

Taking our son to his first game today!

⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️

I put together everything Smith said Friday and what he and Westwood said after Wednesday’s 3-1 loss. A few items from it:

• Smith on the performance: “We haven’t had too many of them. It’s very seldom. And I expect a reaction from them.”
• Westwood said the team “just got outworked.”
• Philadelphia has won its last eight games by a combined 28-8 and hasn’t lost in 14.
• Smith explained why the club didn’t add a center forward. He said Doucouré is training and working on his visa, and that Tyger Smalls is Idan Toklomati’s backup for now.

Full piece: https://charlottefooty.substack.com/p/everything-charlotte-fc-said-ahead

Will someone please explain to me why CLTFC bothered signing Abdoulaye Doucouré? I saw in another thread he is not at practice today. Visa troubles typically delay our signings. Then there are the “match shape” and “team chemistry” issues. This short-term signing (rental) seems like a waste of time and effort to me. Maybe even a distraction to the existing coaches and players? What do you think?

Anyone not get additional points for the game rewards contest last night? I got 21st place and that usually gets additional reward points but nothing came through. Did they change the structure?

Lets get this DUB

Rough one in Columbus. Here’s my recap of the biggest storylines.

Final: Columbus 3, Charlotte FC 1

• Charlotte was outshot 33-9 (14-3 on goal)
• 33 shots is a Columbus club record
• At halftime it was already 22-5 in shots (9-3 on goal)

The bright spot: Toklomati’s 12th
Idan Toklomati is 22 and looked totally nonchalant opening the scoring. He won the turnover, found his spot and finished. That ties Pep Biel for the team lead with 12 goals. The confidence is there, and the future looks bright.

Early pressure, then the turnover
Columbus fired off four or five good looks early, mostly up the left side. Kristijan Kahlina was tremendous, including a big save on a rocket from Brais Méndez, and had 8 saves in the first half alone. It could have been much worse.

Then came a very sloppy turnover, and Méndez got the equalizer within 11 minutes of our goal. Tim Ream and the back line looked at each other in disbelief and frustration. That’s happened too often, and it cost Charlotte on the road.

Dean Smith’s halftime statement
Smith said this week that lineup decisions are performance-based, and he followed through with three subs to start the second half:

• Byrne for Cleary
• Aloko for Abada
• de la Torre for Bronico

Moves like this can disrupt a locker room, but I liked it. The poor defending and lack of possession are a long-standing trend, not an isolated incident.

It got uglier
The turnovers kept coming, and Columbus had a 3-1 lead by the 65th minute with two goals in two minutes. It was reminiscent of what Charlotte did to Dallas on Saturday, but being on the receiving end had to be miserable. Anass Zaroury had his way with the defense all night.

What’s next
Smith has a lot of questions to answer about the performance and the subs, with a quick turnaround to fix the leaks before Saturday at Philly. The Union are only 3 points behind Charlotte in the table.

Full instant reactions here: https://charlottefooty.substack.com/p/postgame-instant-reactions-charlotte-237

What did you all think of the halftime changes? Is this a personnel problem or a system problem?

Hello everyone

I found this and wanted to know if this is worth anything.

The coin says 2026

But the box and crown do not have a year on them other than 2022

They were in the box together

The screen does work for a bit

I tried to place it on Google but couldnt find anything on it.

I didn't know if someone would want this or would it just end up in one of my crafts.

We have an affinity for the city and the Oregon coast as my husband worked on a project out there for over a year. We’re making a longer trip out of it and seeing the game next weekend. Curious if any others are making the cross-country trek!

We got our tickets through the club so will be in the away supporters section. Hoping to have some fellow travelers :)

Charlotte trailed Dallas 2-0 in the 64th minute on Saturday and won 3-2. It was the second time this season the club has come back from two goals down, after the 2-2 draw with Cincinnati.

From Monday’s pressers:

• Smith, on the mentality: “Mentality-wise, there’s never been a problem here.”
• Abada, on being down 2-0: “Sometimes in the game you feel like it’s over, but we showed a strong mentality.”
• Smith, on the bench: “We had the tools behind me to go and change it where I needed to.” He also said that losing three or four players, as Charlotte did against Chicago, takes some of those tools away.

Charlotte is fifth at 46 points, level with fourth-place New England, and plays at Columbus on Wednesday.

I wrote this up with more on the subs, Toffolo’s first goal and what Smith said about Doucouré.

Do you think the comeback record holds up when the lineup changes? Curious how people here see the depth.

Well-deserved!