What was once a dream, of sorts, is becoming reality this week. Charlotte has a professional soccer team and are going to be playing in their first regular season contest. I have to admit, I know very little about soccer, but I look forward to learning as the season goes and I look forward to expand what minimal knowledge that I have. Over the last couple of months, I have tried to ready myself for Charlotte’s debut match and to learn more of not only the sport itself but the MLS in general. I have to say, there is still a lot that we don’t know about this club. For example, they haven’t really hinted at a starting 11. We have little knowledge as to who might be in line for the majority of the minutes and it appears the club itself is in a learning curve as are we.

Charlotte FC’s lone Week 1 matchup will come against DC United on the road this Saturday. DC United is going to be a nice challenge for Charlotte. DC didn’t make the MLS Playoffs last season, but all wasn’t lost for the club. They were just one point away from making the postseason and they look to be on the radar yet again. In 2021, they scored more than they allowed and that shows that they’re no slouch of a team, but what I’m more concerned with is the fact that they appear to be a tough team to beat at home. They won 11 of their 17 home contests. They also have the league’s top scorer a season ago. The Norwegian left-footed striker, Ola Kamara, had a share of the most goals in 2021 MLS play. Look for him to be a threat on Saturday.

On the Charlotte side, from what I can tell, Karol Swiderski and Yordy Reyna will be making the biggest impacts on the attack. Swiderski has spent the last 3 seasons in Greece with PAOK. The Polish striker signed with Charlotte just last month and will look to be the lead attacker on offense. Reyna signed with the club in December and will be facing the team that cut him last season. Reyna is signed to a pretty hefty salary for the next 2 seasons, so look for him to be of value on the attack. He spent some time with Red Bull Salzburg and with other Austrian Bundesliga clubs over the course of his career.

On Defense, Jordy Alcivar will probably be a name you will hear for the next few years. He signed a 4-year deal in January and is a defensive midfielder with a lot of promise. Anton Walkes is another defender with a lot of promise. The English defenseman most recently played for Atlanta United for two seasons and he is signed with Charlotte for 3 years. Again, I will reiterate that I don’t have a lot of soccer knowledge, but I do know the name Christian Fuchs. Fuchs was one of Charlotte’s first signings and it was a big veteran get for the club. There are a lot of concerns if he has any more left in the tank, but I think I can speak for Charlotte fans when I say we’re optimistic. The Austrian fullback has been playing for Charlotte Independence over the last year but was recently with Leicester City for 6 seasons, including their only Premier League Championship team in 2016. He also spent 4 seasons with Schalke 04. I think he will definitely be on the field quite a bit early on to set some precedents for the squad, but to have a player with his veteran experience can be very useful for this new club.

A lot of the predictions articles that I am seeing are putting Charlotte last in the MLS and I understand. There aren’t a lot of big expectations for a new club, but hopefully as the season progresses, Charlotte can prove the doubters wrong. Nobody is expecting them to be great or even good for that matter, but they have a real chance to shake up the MLS. I’m excited to get the chance to follow along this season and hopefully I learn a lot more along the way. In their debut, if they can walk out of DC with at least a draw, that would be preferable. Are we expecting it? Not really, but it doesn’t hurt to be optimistic. Expansion clubs are 1-8-2 in their debut match, so it doesn’t look great for Charlotte, but hopefully they can break the bad trend.

Yacs

*Check out Charlotte FC’s debut match against DC United on Saturday at 6pm EST. The action will air live on WSOC-TV and Telemundo locally, ESPN+, and CLTFC Live. WFNZ 610 AM/102.5 FM will provide radio coverage of the match.

Charlotte FC Report: Debut Week, 2022