Charlotte left the Atlas match with three points and a clean sheet. The first half was still a warning for Pachuca.
“I was really disappointed with the first half,” Dean Smith said. “I just thought we were so poor on the ball. I thought whenever we got it, we turned it over again. Our only meaningful move in the first half was a crossover from a throw-in where Westie put Archie in. Apart from that, we just kept shelling the ball and giving it away too cheaply. They made it difficult. They went man for man on us in midfield. I was pleased to get them in at halftime and give them a few words.”
Atlas had a goal disallowed for offside. Tyler Miller made a one-handed save. Charlotte did not put a shot on target before the break.
Liel Abada replaced Brandt Bronico. Pep Biel moved inside. Ashley Westwood and Djibril Diani became the two deeper midfielders.
“Go and run on the outside. Go and ask some questions when you get a one-v-one, because that was going to be our outlet today,” Smith said. “When you went into midfield, you needed a one-touch pass out because of their man-to-man style. Our fullbacks were our out-balls because they had the time and space, but then they had to eat up the space and give it to our wide players one-v-one.”
Charlotte finally used it. Tyger Smalls forced a turnover and crossed for Abada in the 78th minute. Smalls added the second after goalkeeper Camilo Vargas went forward for a late corner.
Photo: Charlotte FC
The score changed. The warning did not. That hesitation cannot follow Charlotte into Tuesday. It should bother it before Pachuca.
Good result. Strange game. Pachuca is next.
Pachuca has zero points, but it took 23 shots against Cincinnati and put seven on target. Oussama Idrissi created Adrián Alcaraz’s early goal in that 3–1 loss, then scored against Columbus.
Idrissi has been involved in both Pachuca goals. He starts from the left and comes inside. Smith has rotated Nathan Byrne and Will Cleary there.
“I think since we’ve come back, both have done all right when they played there,” Smith said. “When you’re playing Saturday, Tuesday, Saturday, Tuesday, fresh legs normally helps, and we’re fortunate enough to be able to do that with them two at the moment.”
Rondón will be the focus for Charlotte’s center backs. Ream was rested, and Kessler missed the squad.
“It was OK,” Smith said of the changed back line. “I mean, Prince and Morrison together. Kess couldn’t make today. He had a tight thigh that we didn’t want to risk, and I gave Tim a breather to see them again. So yeah, they were OK. As I say, didn’t give big chances away. I just felt positionally we didn’t shift quick enough at times. So that’s something, again, we can work on at the training ground.”
Ream should return. Pep will not. He was sent off after the final whistle, a serious loss because Charlotte only figured Atlas out after Smith moved him inside.
“I just felt Pep wasn’t in the game at all on the side,” Smith said. “So I wanted to get him inside and change the shape back to a 2-1 in midfield. I thought that helped us in the second half. You need your best players. We know Pep is one of them. We need him in the game and he wasn’t in the game enough. We passed the ball a little bit better, we had better angles, and I thought the subs all made a really good impact.”
Luca de la Torre is the likely replacement.
“I thought his performance was really good when he came on,” Smith said. “I thought he handled the ball really well. He kept the ball really well, but he was productive with it as well, and he helped us calm the game down a little bit. The way he’s come back from the World Cup break has been really pleasing for us.”
Allan Saint-Maximin did not dress against Atlas.
“He’s going to need work,” Smith said. “One thing he does, he recovers really quickly. He’s a fast-twitch player. He’ll get on the ball and do bits and he’ll explode. He’s not done loads of on-field training, so he’ll feel out of puff a little bit, but then he recovers really quickly. I don’t think it’ll take loads of time to get him to full fitness.”
The schedule is part of the selection too. Smalls was asked how the players are avoiding burnout.
“I think it’s just managing our bodies. We have really good staff that make sure they take care of us and, yeah, it’s up to us to obviously look after ourselves and make sure we’re doing the right thing. So yeah, I think obviously all of us are doing that, and we’re focused on getting the best possible run we can in this cup. So yeah, it’s a lot, having a lot of games in a short amount of time, but I think we’re ready for it.”
Charlotte has six points, but only four MLS teams advance from Phase One.
“Our setup’s been the same for all the games, to be honest,” he said. “We went into the first game wanting to win it, and we made some changes from the game against Chicago. We’ve made some changes again tonight in the back four. We’ve made changes at halftime and in the second half. So we’re using the squad to try and win games, and we’ll try that again on Tuesday.”
Idrissi. Rondón. No Pep. Possibly Saint-Maximin. That is the match.
And Charlotte cannot wait until halftime to enter it.
