Managing Wingbacks and Butterflies against D.C. United | Ingredients of the Match

Caleb Adams

On the eve of Charlotte FC's first-ever MLS match, let's take a look at some important factors that could possibly influence tomorrow's results.

Here are the three ingredients to keep an eye on against D.C. United:

Familiarity

Off the pitch, D.C. United and Charlotte FC are contrasting clubs. One has been a staple MLS club since its inception, while the other is entering their first-ever season and just beginning its story.

The stark differences between the two clubs don’t end there, however. On the pitch, D.C. United’s acclimation period under last year’s head coach hire, Hernán Losada, is done.

After spending a year under Losada, D.C. United’s players are now familiarized and comfortable with his game model. The learning stage for them is over and now, it’s a matter of optimizing their system.

But on the other side of the spectrum, Charlotte FC’s players are just in the beginning stages of the learning process for head coach Miguel Ramírez’s game model. The team only had a little over a month to prepare for the MLS regular season.

The game against D.C. United will be a gauge of how far along the team has come in familiarizing themselves with the system and each other.

Limiting the Wingbacks

An area of focus that Charlotte FC will have to gameplan against is in the wide areas. Perhaps D.C.’s biggest attacking threat is Julian Gressel who plays as a right wingback but is the attacking catalyst for the capital city.

On the opposite side, previously it was the young starlet Kevin Paredes who caused havoc in the left wingback role. With him no longer at the club after his transfer to Wolfsburg in Germany, Brad Smith, who joined from the Seattle Sounders, will be taking over the reins.

Despite only joining the team this offseason, Smith should adjust quickly to Losada’s game model because of his experience in a three center back system which was played by Seattle most of last year.

D.C. United will be reliant on this duo for creating scoring opportunities and helping on defense. It’s much harder said than done but shutting down or at least limiting the influence of D.C.’s wingbacks will be key in Charlotte FC’s effort to get a result away from home.

Managing Butterflies

Very few players in the world have experienced the pressure and nerves of playing the first-ever game in history for a team, and nerves make players more prone to make mistakes, especially early in a game.

Managing the early butterflies will be vital to avoid conceding an early goal and building momentum as the match goes along. An early mistake can cripple a team’s confidence and hinder their ability to get into a rhythm.

If the team manages to handle those early nervy stages, it will allow them to settle quicker into the match, building momentum and putting them in a good position to succeed.

But Charlotte FC players knew what they were getting themselves into and have embraced the pressure of being on the inaugural roster of a brand-new club.

“It’s a beautiful pressure, it’s a pressure that all of us knew we would have when we decided to come to this club,” said Charlotte FC defender Guzmán Corujo. “We all know we have to play well. We all know this match and the first one at home will be forever a part of history.”