Top of the League to Five L's in a Row: What's Going on With Charlotte FC? A Breakdown

Just a few weeks ago, Charlotte FC sat atop the Eastern Conference. The team was on fire, off to the club's best start in our franchises' short history. The squad showed some flaws within this hot start, but every MLS fan seemed to believe that we had instantly become a contender. This sentiment was short-lived.

Charlotte FC have now lost five league matches in a row, with two coming at home and three on the road. We've known that we struggle on the road, and thus the two losses at home--against what should be far inferior opponents--are most concerning. As of Sunday, May 18th, the club are now in 8th place in the Eastern Conference, tied with the Chicago Fire. So what's going on?

The Common Denominator: Nathan Byrne

Charlotte FC fans are well aware that one of the strongest aspects of our game under Dean Smith is our backline and defense. We've consistently allowed amongst the fewest goals in the MLS both last year and early this year. But, this has suddenly all changed, as the crown have now allowed 14 goals in five league matches. The common denominator in these games? No Nathan Byrne. Nathan Byrne's long-term injury from April 12th has added significant pressure to our backline, and it becomes even more evident how important Byrne is to our squad. And, it truly doesn't help that our newest signing, LB Souleyman Doumbia, has also picked up a semi-long-term injury, leaving us with no starting outside backs.

Nathan Byrne (Injured) & Nick Scardina

Nathan Byrne, even from a fullback position, clearly is a leader along the backline and helps to anchor our defense with strong 1v1 defending and high levels of communication. And, even going forward, we miss Byrne; the right back provides a strong outlet in the form of overlapping runs and consistently finds himself in positions to provide service into the box. And, this isn't to say that the replacements have played horrible; youngster Nick Scardina has stepped in well at times, and Tim Ream has been forced to play out of position again at LB. It's also worth mentioning our newest loan move, the signing of wing-back Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty, who has looked lively in the few opportunties he has been given to play. But there's a reason we had the best defense in the league prior to these injuries. The absence of Nathan Byrne--and to a certain extent Souleyman Doumbia--is by no means the entirety of the problem, but we'd be a fool not to acknowledge that its part of the problem.

Attacking Creativity:

Wilfried Zaha

We've scored five goals in this five game losing stretch, so the attacking play certainly is not nonexistent. With that being said, apart from a few well-worked moves, there is improvement necessary throughout the entirety of games. Namely, creativity and chance creation from the wide positions; both Wilfried Zaha and Liel Abada have the ability to take guys on, beat players, create chances, and score goals, but we're not seeing it enough recently. This includes wingers off the bench such as Kerwin Vargas, who is competing for one of the starting spots. It's worth mentioning that Wilfried Zaha seems to be fouled before he gets the chance to do so, but both players also seem to lack the confidence at times to be decisive in attack make things happen. This is by no means a knock on either's ability, because we know that they can do these things, but we just need to see more of it to consistently create more chances.

The Backline and Goals:

Tim Ream & Jahkeele Marshall-Rutty

As mentioned earlier, Charlotte FC have conceded 14 goals in the last five matches, a stat quite uncharacteristic of this squad. The defense has certainly taken a hit due to injuries, but the problems run deeper at the moment. Too often we see silly giveaways out of the back or in the midfield that could have or have led to goals. And, it's worth mentioning that we sometimes have limited midfield support in defense on long-range shots. Yes, defenders should often step to close down shots, but the gaps between the backline and the midfield can sometimes be quite large if we give the ball away too easily. Dean Smith has experimented with new formations, such as the 3-4-3, but our backline's positioning did not prove optimal. Kristijan Kahlina, the best goalkeeper in the MLS, has unfortunately conceded some bad goals in the past few weeks as well. Mistakes happen, as they should, and no one should ever be ridiculed for one mistake. But, the consistent pattern of allowing goals that is developing is alarming, and it points to a larger structural issue that has evolved in the past five games.

What's to Come:

Charlotte FC is about to enter one of the most challenging areas of their schedule. The team welcomes the third-placed club in the Eastern Conference, Columbus Crew, before beginning a run of five consecutive away matches. If our away performance trends continue, the month of June could be quite miserable for Charlotte FC players. But, I want to emphasize that all is not lost, negativity should not be creeping in everywhere. This team EARNED their spot a-top the Eastern Conference earlier in the year. We have the quality to be great and re-climb the standings. Our past five matches simply indicate that we have a lot more to figure out than we initially expected.

Images: Charlotte FC